Absolute Power
by MujakiX
Summary: Harry and Cho can finally rest, but something stirs in darkness... how long can they hide from the Mujaki? An Alternate Universe fic, taking place during Christmas, 5th Year.
1. Scars

_Absolute Power_

_By MujakiX_

_Prologue... Scars_

A scar is a funny thing when you think about it. Biologically, it is damaged skin tissue that was used to repair a former wound. It doesn't matter whether or not it was an accidental nick with the wrong end of a shaving razor, or if it was acquired by a more grievous injury. A scar is, simply put, the physical reminder of a painful memory, even memories that we do not remember in our minds. When I look at my scar, a fairly clean cut slightly off-center on my forehead, I can vaguely hear a scream, and see a sudden flash of green light... then silence. Every scar has its own story, but not all scars are visible... there are scars that are burned into your very mind. Some scars are so vivid that when you venture into slumber, it feels as though you have never fallen asleep. The scents in the air are crisp, and the tears are still salty on the tip of your tongue. Scars like that will either make you stronger, or haunt you forever.

Forever is such a strong word. Forever... eternal, a person who has never experienced loss cannot grasp the concept of forever. When I lost something, minutes became days, and something like 'forever' began to dawn on me as something real.

It has been about three weeks since the day that I lost everything.


	2. Circles

_Chapter One... Circles  
  
_

The window was open when I fell out of my dreamless sleep. I unconsciously reached for my glasses on the dresser next to my bed, and pulled them on while I still lay in bed. The world came into a slow focus as I shivered beneath my blankets. I could _feel _the cold air wafting into the room like an icy hand caressing my ruddy skin. _It's Sunday,_ I thought... tomorrow would be the first day of Christmas Break. I looked over to my right; Ron's bed was already made and his trunk emptied. The train would be packed with students ready to go home for the holidays. It was odd: this was the first time that neither Ron nor Hermione would stay with me for Christmas... although I can imagine why they felt the need to leave. Ron's family needed to be together for this holiday, marking the first time in months that all of the Weasley brothers would be together in the same household. Mrs. Weasley invited me to join them, but I just... couldn't, not this year. She assured me that what had occurred wasn't my fault, but it did not do anything to ease my guilt. It had taken all my nerve to decline her offer, but I knew that they would try to comfort me. Comfort was something that Ginny deserved, and now she would never have. I couldn't take the comfort that she needed from her, so I declined.

Hermione was going home as well, but I didn't ask her to stay behind for me. It had been awkward between us ever since Ginny's accident. She had shown me, at her own emotional expense, how I really felt about Ginny. Hermione dropped her facade and bared herself, her _real_ self, to me. She sent me to find Ginny; she alone realized what Ginny was capable of... and charged me with her return. The day I hadn't brought her back with me... it devastated her. Not ten words had passed between us for three weeks, and now, like Ron, she disappeared without a goodbye.

I was the only fifth-year Gryffindor to remain at the school for the holidays - I seriously doubted that the Dursleys would have agreed to have me anyway - and only one of three Gryffindors total to remain. The feeling of emptiness in the dormitories could be attributed to this, but I didn't mind. I cast away the warm blankets and pulled a shirt on before walking down into the common room. Like the dormitories, it was eerily vacant. The fire at the far end burned brightly, giving the room a warm glow, but without the presence of people it seemed unnecessary. The picture opened as I walked by - The Fat Lady still dozed in the early morning hours - and I traversed the dark corridors. It felt as if the Sun was growing more reluctant to rise with each passing day, and the nighttime darkness still intruded within the school. I was still able to make it into the Great Hall... the ceiling was enchanted to mirror the sky outdoors, which was still black and cloudy. Without the candles that levitated in the air, the Hall would be as aphotic as the corridors. Still, the scents of breakfast and warmth of the Hall were so enticing that I couldn't just pass by. I could make out about twelve students who sat at the head table with the teachers, chatting merrily amongst themselves. Professor Dumbledore sat at the center of the table, and he caught sight of me as I took my seat with the two Gryffindor first-years at the end of the row. I could see him giving me a knowing smile beneath his long, white beard, and I nodded in return.

"Well," Professor Dumbledore said, and all conversation ceased, "Now that everyone is here, I think that I can give a few announcements... first, I would like to tell those of you who do not know that the Grounds are open for snow fights, broom racing, and things of that nature. Most teachers are remaining here for the holidays, so if any of you are interested in tutoring, simply ask. Many of your companions have already gone, but that does not mean that there aren't any _new_ friends to be made. There are thirteen students here: three from Gryffindor, seven from Hufflepuff, two from Slytherin, and one from Ravenclaw. Inter-house friendships are always encouraged, remember that."

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle, "Well now, I think that I have rambled on enough. Let's eat!"

With a clap of his hands, breakfast materialized on the table. I reached over for a piece of toast while the first-years rushed for a platter of scrambled eggs. From my vantage point at the end of the table, I could see all the teachers that were here: next to Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall pursed her lips at an apparently hilarious story being told by tiny Professor Flitwick; Professor Vector conversed with a Hufflepuff girl who I didn't know; Hagrid engaged in jovial chatter with Professor Trelawney, who oddly blushed at the large man's attentions, a shy smile playing across her lips... I must admit, that is _incredibly_ strange. However, I suddenly noticed the Professor Snape was absent from the table. He was almost always here for the holidays... and then I realized that he may not be visiting family. I couldn't shake a growing feeling that something would happen to him, even though I didn't like him. As unsettling as this thought was, I forced myself to look at the students. Susan Bones looked as though she was enjoying her conversation with an unfamiliar Slytherin boy who looked to be at least sixth-year. As I scanned the table, I saw that the Ravenclaw student wasn't at the table. I immediately sat up, and finally, I saw somebody sitting at the Ravenclaw long table. They had long, silken black hair and a pale complexion...

..._ Cho?  
  
_

"What are you doing, Potter? Just playing with it?" A gruff voice startled me back into reality. A hand grasped my shoulder, and I turned to face Professor Moody. Both his magical eye and his normal eye focused on mine, giving me the bizarre impression that he was staring through my head. He motioned to my plate; the piece of toast had completely disintegrated in my fingers.

I could only brush my fingers off on the napkin, "I'm sorry, sir. I was..."

"Oh, you don't need excuses, Potter." He sniffed a grape that he had in his hand, touching it all over before popping it into his mouth, "Something's got your goat, hasn't it? I see that your little friends didn't stay behind for the holidays."

Moody reached for a strawberry, and I said the first thing that came to mind, "I think that this year... it was better for them to go."

"What did I tell you about excuses?!" He suddenly snapped, his magical eye spinning in its cradle. He coughed into a handkerchief, and sat down again, "That isn't it, at least not all of it."

I reached for another piece of toast as he took a swig from his hip flask. He must have noticed me staring at him, because he stuck the mouth of the flask beneath my nose. A pungent scent burned my nostrils, and he pulled it back and laughed.

"No worries Potter! It's whiskey, home-brewed." It was odd to see Moody laughing like that, but the thought was reassuring: last year, we found out that the Mad-Eye Moody that had been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts was actually Barty Crouch, Voldemort's most loyal servant. He kept up Moody's facade by taking a draft of Polyjuice potion every hour from his hip flask. It was the perfect cover - Moody was well known for drinking _only_ from his flask, claiming that it would be too easy to poison an open goblet. "I don't intend to let anyone infiltrate this school again."

I couldn't help but smile at my own thoughts, "I suppose that was rather stupid of me."

"Don't worry about it, Potter. That just means that you're alert, a good trait to have nowadays." His craggy face turned serious once more, "You've felt alone ever since November, even when your friends were here, right?"

I looked down at my plate, "A bit."

The Ravenclaw girl turned around to lay her head on the table. It was Cho.

Moody noticed my gaze, "Why don't you talk to her? She seems the type: pretty, young, and nobody else is over there."

I immediately turned to face him, "What?! I can't! I wouldn't feel right, knowing that she lost somebody she cared about."

His magical eye's gaze drifted past me and saw right through a first-year's head, right at Cho, "Then the two of you have a lot in common, don't you think?"


	3. Lie To Me

_Chapter Two... Lie to Me_

I finished my piece of toast in silence, trying to build my nerve as I saw Cho lay her head down on the table.

Moody looked at me again and shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it's up to you, after all..."

He took another shot from his flask and returned to breakfast. I looked at my empty plate and came to a decision.

My plate dematerialized as I wiped my mouth and stepped away from the table. I tried to be as quiet as possible when I reached the Ravenclaw table, and I took a seat across from her. She didn't stir, and I tried to speak to her.

"Morning, Cho." I whispered. She remained quiet, so I kept talking, "I hope that you're having a good vacation... having the common room all to yourself. I have to share mine with a pair of first-years I don't even know. I guess you could say that it's peaceful, if you like that kind of thing..."

This was starting to feel incredibly awkward, but I rambled on, "I was wondering... why didn't you join us at the Head Table?"

It was like trying to talk to a wall of ice, and I finally gave up, "Well, I guess I'll leave you alone... I'll see you tomorrow."

I rose to leave, but a voice barely above a whisper caught my attention, "Stay. Please."

Cho turned to face me; dark half-circles were vaguely visible beneath her almond-shaped eyes. She was dressed in a loose, black blouse that she had apparently slept in and dark, silken slacks. Together with the weary gaze that she wore, it looked as if she hadn't slept in a week. I sat down again, the flesh on the back of my neck prickling at the sound of her voice. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and gave a short laugh.

"I must look terrible," she mumbled before laughing again. It was a false self-deprecating laugh that made her sound as if she were on the brink of tears.

"Not as bad as I do," I wasn't lying; I didn't really think about my looks when there were not enough people around to care anyway, "Honestly..."

A hint of a smile touched the corners of her lips, but quickly faded again, "Where are your friends? Normally, the whole lot of you are here."

She must have seen the look on my face because her eyes widened in recognition, "Oh... sorry. I didn't mean to - "

"Don't worry about it," I interrupted, letting my gaze drift a bit before looking at her again, "they needed to get away for a little while. Just to have breathing room..."

The two of us remained silent for what seemed an eternity. I tried to rise again to leave, but something nagging in the back of my mind held me fast to my seat. Just being in the presence of someone, _anyone_, eased my mind. At least for a little bit.

"Cho?" She looked up at me, and I continued, "Why are you the only Ravenclaw staying here?"

"My parents decided to visit my Grandmother, and I had some Potions work I needed to catch up on..." I noticed her hands fidgeting on the table a bit, but I didn't think too much of it, "Everyone else had plans, I guess."

Cho sat up, trying to straighten the wrinkles on her blouse, "I didn't even notice how worn this is, it looks like I got dressed in the dark!"

There was a slight smile on her face as she tugged at her blouse, and I had to stifle a laugh as each effort only made the problem worse. She looked at me, her lips torn between smiling and crying.

"I said not to worry about it," I whispered. She cracked a small grin, and turned away to hide it.

"Look," Cho motioned to the Head Table. Everyone else had already gone. The ceiling was a stony gray and snow seemed to drift within inches of our faces before fading into nothing, "I guess I had better go."

"Yeah..." My attention returned to her; she stood up and brushed herself off, seemingly preoccupied with her blouse, and walked away. When I left, I couldn't help but notice Moody standing in the threshold of the outer door. He winked with his normal eye and turned to walk away.

---

I spent the whole of the day in bed, ignoring the two first-years who banged on my door when lunch came around. Night again crept on me... slipping dark, fine fingers through the gray sky, and devouring it completely. I turned around onto my belly and wrapped my arms around my pillow. Sleep never came easily anymore, and it was a true wonder how I could drag myself out of my four-poster in the morning. I could see shadows in the dim light, and I involuntarily tensed. One shadow was smooth and it flowed like water to my dresser. The other was smaller, yet broad and it scuttled across the wall in jerky, lapsed motions. Almost as if it could will itself to a different spot. The oil in the lamp burned lower and lower, and the shadows danced with a fevered energy. They encircled the walls, spinning as the space between them glowed with its own luminescence. My walls were a vortex, and the lamp fizzled dead. The shadows grew, expanded into weird shapes, merging into a single, monsterous form.

A bird of solid dark, circling me like a raven to a carcass.

My muscles screamed, but I sat up. A massive, intangible force violently shoved me to the floor. I could taste blood on my lips, but I rose again. The bird grinned as it accelerated, and I could feel gravity pulling me to the ground. I sank to one knee as wriggling vines of dark slithered to me, weaving up my legs, across my chest, _constricting_ me. _No_, I thought as I raised my hand... it was a slim chance, but the only option I had. I closed my eyes, feeling slick tentacles caress my cheek, and a fire burned within my hand... just as Dumbledore said.

_"LUMOS!" _I shrieked at the top of my lungs, and a bright orange glow escaped my fingers and hung in the air.

The bird gave a physical shudder, a spasm that quaked the ancient walls of the tower, and it opened its ravenous beak. The silent cry shattered my glasses, and it stopped. Just stopped and hung on the wall for a brief moment. Suddenly, it separated and the shadows shrank away into a corner like a wounded animal. I stood up, free from my bonds, and stalked after it. It lashed out, but the appendage evaporated before it could touch me. The shadow shriveled away into nothing, but I stood there for what seemed hours until I was sure it had gone. Slowly, I walked to my dresser and pulled out a small oilcan to refill the lamp. Finally, once the light grew strong again, I whispered the words "_Finite Incantatem."_ The glow faded from my fingers, and I slipped into my bed again. I slowed my breathing and stared at the ceiling, trying to induce drowsiness of some kind...

It didn't really matter; I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. When I closed my eyes, I could smell the rain... see a frail, red-haired figure standing on the broken edge of the abyss... she screamed out into the darkness and her shoulders quaked from the effort. I reach out, and she falls into me, crying. We stand there for hours, and she finally decides to step down. I extend my hand to her, and she falls back. The darkness swallows her up, and I stand there. Alone. I step onto the ledge, feeling how slippery the stones are beneath me. The gusts whip at me through my robes, chilling me to the bone... I wonder how it would feel to hit bottom, whether it would hurt when I landed on the sharp rocks... I take another step-

- An owl flew through my open window, and I snapped out of my trance. It beckons to me, a rolled parchment tied to one feathered claw. I get out of bed and the owl glides onto my dresser and nips my fingers as I untie the parchment from it. I walked to Hedwig's cage and pulled out an Owl Treat for the delivery owl. I stroke her back as she happily gnawed on the treat. The owl was quite exotic, with a thick, dark crest that curved up at the base of her neck. The thick, billowy feathers that lined her legs gave her the odd appearance of wearing pants. After she finished the treat, she leaped to the window and took flight. When I was sure she had gone, I laid the parchment on my dresser... I could read it tomorrow...

Finally, I closed my eyes and sleep took me into her arms.


	4. Drone

_(Forgive the lateness, but school and work have all but monopolized my time. Here are two chapters for your enjoyment, and as always, read and review!!! -Matt)  
_

_  
Chapter Three... Drone_

My eyes snapped open and I voiced a soundless scream, my own fingernails clawing into the pillowcase and into my face.

_What,_ I thought as my fingers abruptly fell limp. I sat up and looked at them, wriggling them and rotating my wrists, _how did that happen?_

I got out of bed and ran into the lavatory. There were three small gouges on either cheek that shone wetly in the light of the mirror.

"Good Lord, Dear... what happened to you?!" The mirror inquired in an almost motherly tone. I grabbed a clean washcloth and soaked it in the warm water of the basin... I scrubbed my face, only vaguely aware of the stinging salve in the water, and I looked in the mirror. The gouges were still there, but at least they were no longer bloody. Now, they looked as if I had scratched several large mosquito bites on my face.

_My hands were moving without me,_ the realization finally hit me, and I leaned against the tiled wall. What kind of magic could do that, aside from the Imperius Curse... but I thought that you had to be awake to do that...

The gouges began to ache... I guess I should go see Madam Pomfrey. As I left the Lavatory, I couldn't help but feel less protected than I thought I was.

---

"And _how_ exactly did you do this to yourself, Mister Potter?" Madam Pomfrey leaned in and stared right at my wounds as I shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

"I took a bit of a tumble off my bed, ma'am," I spoke shrilly as I recalled the story I had concocted on the way down, "Hedwig decided to roost on my dresser last night, and I guess it spooked me to see her right next to me when I woke up."

She shook her head as she rubbed a violet salve onto each gouge, which gave me an odd tingling sensation reminiscent of icy hands all over my face, "I swear, Potter, you Fifth-years make mistakes a First-year would laugh at. But that doesn't explain that cut lip you have right there... probably bled all over the pillows. That kind of thing makes the house-elves queasy."

_Cut lip?!_ I felt my face, and sure enough, I could feel the scab where I had fallen last night. My stomach gave a sick turn inside of me, and I could only think of one thing...

_... last night was real._

"I can only fix the scab, but you still might have a scar there..."

A scar.

Breakfast had already passed, but a growling in my belly drove me into the Great Hall. I briefly scanned the room to ensure that no one was watching, and I walked over to the large painting at the far end decorated with fruit. The pear slowly floated in the bottom left of the painting - I reached down and gently tickled it, and the giggling pear produced a small doorknob that I used to enter the Kitchen.

It was just as I had remembered it, complete with the countless house-elves scurrying all over the place. I couldn't spot Dobby's colorful attire anywhere, but a swarthy house-elf stepped up to me.

"Hello, good sir. What may we be helping you with?" He said in as gruff a voice as a house-elf could produce. I suddenly felt quite bad about interrupting whatever they were doing, but my hunger got the best of me in the end.

"I was wondering, if its no trouble, if you could make me a small snack for me to take to the common room?"

Almost immediately, twelve elves sprang into action, pulling collectively a wicker basket, a violet wrapping, and warm biscuits into a neat package. The gruff house-elf handed me the basket and gazed up at me.

"Thank you." I said, and the gaggle of elves bowed and resumed their work.

I left the kitchen in better spirits than I had entered - the warm, sweet biscuits worked wonders for my mood - and I came to a window in the corridor.

_Well_, I thought, _this is as good a place as any._ I sat down in the U-bend and unwrapped another biscuit. They were crisp and buttery, almost melting when they touched my tongue. I watched the grey sky gradually lighten in tone, and I could see the sleds coasting along the icy face of the lake below. The sounds of laughter reached my ears, and I forgot about my loneliness for a moment... about everything.... it was just me and the cool, winter air.

---

_Ginny sat alone in the Orchard, surrounded on either side by the leafy branches. The late night air was unusually crisp for the summer, and she shivered suddenly. An icy breeze prickled the skin on her neck. She tried to shrug off the unsettling feeling, but something squirmed in her belly. Ginny had heard of stalkers in the Muggle world, and the similar tactics utilized by the Death Eaters. _

_Something touched the back of her neck._

_She turned to look behind her... but nothing was there. That was odd, she thought as she pulled the blanket around her a bit closer, she could have sworn that someone was there. She felt it. _

_I shouldn't be so tense, she thought, I came out here to relax. Ginny could forget everything in the Orchard, sleeping comfortably in the familiar darkness within the tree. There were berries in the tree, shimmering like black diamonds and with the scent of baking peaches. Their bittersweet, spicy taste was still on her tongue._

_"Hey," a soft voice called from just below her, "Why are you out here this late?"_

_Ginny turned her gaze down to meet Harry's ethereal green eyes, and she felt her breath taken from her for just a minute. There was something else _with_ her, leering at the man-child below her. It hissed obscene violation into her ears, vitriolic tongue like a snake slithering around her neck and down her nightshirt, between her breasts and _into_ her stomach._

_She gasped and slid off of her branch. With speed he didn't know he had, Harry rushed forward and caught Ginny's arms. They crashed to the earth together, and Ginny clutched at Harry's shirt and tried to scream, but she couldn't._

_She felt the tongue in her mouth._

_She gagged on it, and as Harry righted himself, Ginny fell to the ground. It jerked and writhed in her throat as it forced its way into her belly. She felt strong hands on her shoulders and they pulled her to a sitting position. Ron struggled to restrain her as Harry ran back to the house to get help. Only Ron heard the word that escaped her lips..._

---I emerged from the corridor into the common room. It was unoccupied for the time being, so I decided to take advantage of it while I could. I curled up in a deep-seated chair by the fireplace and let the warmth wash over me. The biscuits had been absolutely delicious and a new drowsiness took hold of me. The light filled the room... wait a moment. I sat up again and ran up to my room.

Cho's letter still lay upon my dresser. I seized it with a new vitality and read it aloud.

_  
---  
_

_  
Harry,_

_I wish for your company at dinner tonight in the Ravenclaw common room. I already asked Dumbledore for permission and he said yes. Please send me your reply as quickly as you can. Thank you._

_-Cho Chang_

---  
  
I sat there for a moment contemplating this.

"What have I got to lose:?" I whispered as I pulled a piece of parchment from my desk. In it I hastily scribbled my reply.

_  
---  
_

_  
Cho,_

_Absolutely._

_-Harry Potter_

_  
---_

Arthur Weasley was returning home a bit later than usual. He had just apparated into his front yard when he heard a scream from within his home. It was low-register, but still a scream of mortal terror.

Arthur dropped his things and ran inside. His wife was already ahead of him on the stairs, and they managed a silent mutual greeting before resuming to the trouble at hand. Bill and Charlie Weasley were standing outside of Ron's open door. Arthur shoved his way past them and entered the room.

The walls were a garish orange in color, and there were assorted magazines on the floor. And in the bed, Ron Weasley twitched and writhed.

Arthur rushed to his son's bed and held his arms down, but he could still hear Ron's teeth grinding and gnashing. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, he fell limp in his father's arms, and _something_ within him made a voice so otherworldly in nature Bill sank to his knees in pain.

"_Mujaki..."_


	5. Gingerbread

_Chapter Four... Gingerbread_

The window was open as I dressed, and I could feel the gooseflesh prick along my shoulders and the back of my neck. At this point I had long abandoned my school robes, much less _dress _robes. I was deciding between black slacks and a red sweater, or simply slacks and a black t-shirt. The cold didn't bother me too much anymore, and the t-shirt was much more comfortable... why was I even trying so hard!? It's just a simple dinner between two acquaintances who happen to have a few things in common.

Now _that_ was a morbid thought. What did we have in common... well, we're both seekers for our house teams - yeah, and I'm sure she also has a massive cousin who beats the living daylights out of her every summer. A fat lot, that's what we have in common.

I walked into the lavatory and washed my face. It felt good, almost as if I had just awakened from a long and glorious sleep. As I dried my face, I caught a good look at myself in the mirror. It felt like several years had passed since I last took the time to look at the mirror, excluding my bizarre morning call. I was tanned and hardened from Quidditch, but still rather slight for my age. Seekers are not usually very large - I guess I was a little surprised by my physique. My face was still the same as ever, although my eyes were almost... glowing. Pulsing. I switched off the light, and to my surprise, they shimmered dully in the dark.

It must be the way they catch the light from the bedroom, I decided before heading back into the room, I think the black t-shirt suits me.

I got dressed.

---

The sky was quickly darkening, and the low roar of thunder in the distance indicated the coming of a blizzard. I was unaware of this at the time, for when Cho had invited me to the Ravenclaw common room, she neglected to give me directions. After about thirty minutes of wandering, I started to think that maybe it was a joke.

Brilliant, Potter, I thought as I sat down on the stairway. It was as dimly lit as the rest of the castle and did nothing to improve my mood. Even if it was the real thing, I was already late and I had probably blown my chance with Cho.

What chance? It was just... oh, forget it. I know that this could be the only chance I had with Cho, but I still couldn't bring myself to see it that way. Why-

I heard a screech from just above my head. I looked up to see the dark-crested owl skim overhead and drop a note on my head. It whirled in the air like a billowing quilt and flew straight up. I cautiously reached for the note and tore off the seal.

-

_Harry,_

_I almost forgot! You need to head into the library and follow along the left wall until you reach a narrow stairway. There will be a large bookcase at the head of the stairs. Open the violet book. The password is "Gingerbread." _

_-C.C._

_-_

The ink was still fresh upon it, and the signature had smudged a bit, but the handwriting was too familiar to deny.

My stomach turned sideways as I ran downstairs to the second floor staircase. I rapped my fingers upon the bannister impatiently as I waited for it to rotate to the right opening. It didn't take too long after that to reach the library, and once inside, I ran along the left wall until I reached the alcove where the staircase was. It was ridiculously long, but I could see that there was only one violet book in the whole wall. I pulled the book from the shelf and opened it.

"Gingerbread," I whispered to page 365.

It dematerialized in my hands, and with a loud, rusted groan, the bookcase split into quarters to give me a doorway reminiscent of a crucifix.

"Here we go," I said to myself as I walked into the doorway.

There was a slight tunnel leading into the common room, and it segued into a segmented room with walls draped in multi-colored fabric. Each segment was large enough to fit the Dursley's house complete with it's surrounding yard, and each was a different color along the walls. I could feel a throb in my head from standing in this room. It was an overwhelming beat, steadily accelerating, and to my equal surprise and disgust, I realized that the beat was a pulse. Unlike the Gryffindor common room, or even the Slytherin common room, this room was _alive._

"Harry, is that you?" a steady voice called from somewhere, "Walk toward my voice."

It was as if I had swallowed a whole bottle of a particularly heady wine. I stumbled out of that particular section of the room and into a violet-draped wall. Almost immediately, I felt mellow, safe. The violet floor ascended into a cathedral-ceiling that was the brightest of sapphire blue. There was a voice somewhere inside of me, assuring me that this was _home_.

"I'm over here," the voice seemed so familiar, but I couldn't place it, "you just need to see."

I looked at the walls - they seemed to flicker the longer I stared at them. The blue began to give way into a stormy gray-black and the violet began to rot and flake away. Beneath it was a wooden brown and dark leaves. I felt the first snow reach down and kiss my cheek, but I walked down a path that grew more known as I walked it. My feet sank into a ground that was never totally dry, and my face was hidden by trees that reached to the very top of the sky. Like a forgotten nightmare, my stomach curled inside of me as I stood at the edge of an abyss.

A literal gorge in the earth, it sank to the very bowels of the world. I turned to face the forest, but Hogwarts was just a memory, to far to call for help, to draw upon its power. The stones where she had once stood were no longer there, having recently given way to erosion. I choked down a bitter laugh. It was almost funny.

"You came." It said simply. The voice had lost its little girl sensibility.

The snow fell more freely now, and my vision was beginning to cloud with the combination of darkness and snow. Light and dark. But I could still feel a burgeoning dread, the knowledge that something was coming was eating me from the inside out.

I could hear scratching, the sound of fingernails scraping across clay and stone and grit. It grew louder - I heard a stone pulled loose and it fell into the pit - and louder still. Unconsciously, I drew back until I felt the rough bark of a tree behind me. Without fanfare, a single, pale hand reached up and pawed at the frozen clay. It dug fingertips into it, and its other hand followed. Slowly, but surely, a body rose from its agile crouch. It was dressed in darkness, hugging every curve and crevice of its body, and dead eyes stared at me from behind stringy, crimson locks. It smiled at me with a mouth full of needle-thin teeth.

"Hello, Ginny." I said.

---

I opened my eyes to a completely white room. A shadow was grabbing me by the shoulders and it finally shook me awake. A waterfall of black hair cascaded down from her shoulders and brushed against my face. A pair of eyes so brown they seemed black reflected worry as their owner frantically tried to revive me. I sat up, sweating from head to toe.

"What was that?" I wheezed, still breathless. When I looked at my rescuer, it turned out to be Cho, sitting silently next to me. She still looked nervous, but relived that I was okay, for lack of a better term.

"I forgot to tell you," she also sounded out of breath, her hair now disheveled and cheeks flushed, "that is a sort of... I guess you would call it a defense mechanism against intruders, or non-Ravenclaws who like to play pranks."

Her emphasis on 'non-Ravenclaws' led me to believe that at least one of her companions had been the victims of Fred and George. She pulled her hair back while I got back on my feet. I straightened out my shirt and extended a hand to her to help her up. Once we were both on our feet, I noticed that the room now appeared as hospitable as the Gryffindor common room, complete with a massive hearth and fireplace and leather-clad sofas. The colorful fabrics still adorned the walls, but the oppressive pulse had diminished to a purr. I turned around and I could still see the psychotic arrangement and odd energies of the other segments radiating toward us in literal waves. In this little kiosk, however, was a place fit to live. In the middle of this home-styled set was a low table surrounded by cushions.

"What is that thing supposed to do?" I couldn't help but ask - the hallucination was still vivid in my eyes.

"It is supposed to scare away anybody who breaks in, kind of like a boggart." she gave me a sideways glance, "But I've never seen it react like that before..."

She bit her bottom lip as if she had said too much, but the message was clear: It had only done that because I was Harry Potter.

I sat down on one of the cushions, and two fat goblets full of iced butterbeer materialized before me. Cho moved around to the opposite side of the table and took her seat. She had dressed nicely for the occasion; she wore a deep violet blouse with a dark, full-length skirt, (which I noticed a slit up front that reached to just above her left knee.) She smiled shyly from behind two stray bangs as she sipped lightly from her goblet. I, however, was still shivering from revisiting that moment, and that horrific vision...

_No,_ I told myself, _a hallucination, not a vision. Visions come true._ With my stomach as weak as it was, I just took a swig from my goblet. It settled a bit, and I could finally reach back to the present. I looked at Cho as she stood up and sat down next to me, and the butterflies suddenly multiplied by twelve.

"So... what's it like living here?" As stupid as it was, it was the only thing I could come up with. Cho sighed a bit before answering.

"Well, the common room is supposed to reflect the emotions of the people who live here, which is why it seems so fragmented right now without enough people to influence it."

I remembered the comfort I felt in the violet room before I had fallen into the trap, "Does it just divide itself like that without people?"

She nodded flatly, "I suppose so, at least that's what it's been doing while I've been here."

_She's never been here alone before,_ I realized before I saw the white room behind us wither away into a mournful blue. Finally, I quelled the butterflies in my stomach by slamming my goblet down on the table. Cho jumped up at the sound, but I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Cho, can I ask you a question?" I looked her in the eyes, and was surprised when her gaze was equally strong.

"Absolutely."

I took a deep breath before proceeding, "Why are you here by yourself?"

---

_The earth was frozen where she was, harsh upon her numb fingers that clawed deep into the clay, pulling her closer. She who felt the cold permeate through her frail her body and wake the deadened flesh. Frozen was better than numb, she thought._

_She had been numb for a long time. _

_Her broken spine groaned uncomfortably as she endured her climb, and the sutures in her arms pulled her skin in unnatural ways. Still, she climbed and broke through stone and ice alike until she reached up at last and gripped air. She sighed with a mouth full of dirt and pulled herself up out of the abyss. Her naked flesh didn't prick in the cold, but she didn't expect it to. Before long, she was clothed in dark and earth. The ice, it seemed, could be melted away. She ran her fingers across her face, and she felt the rough, bumpy, featureless skin on the side of her face. It seemed so... familiar. So did the stones below her, slippery as they were. Her hair stuck to her face in red streaks, but nothing mattered. Nothing matters except finding THE BOY. _

_But then what... she would find THE BOY, but then what. _

_A sharp pain ran up her spine, and she coughed up muddy water. A grin spread across her face as she tasted blood in her cold mouth. She would find THE BOY, and then she would spill his blood._

_---_

Hermione Granger was laying down on her bed of red satin when she tasted blood in her mouth. She woke with a start and ran into her bathroom and retched crimson into her sink. The bitter, coppery taste still played on her tongue as she rinsed her mouth out.

_What was that_, she thought as she spit into the sink. Her face was flushed and her hair matted down to her face with sweat. The temperature felt as if it had risen by about twenty degrees. Without much thought, she reached into her shower and started the water.

There were so many things in her mind and not enough time to file them away in her memory. She hated not being able to sort things out, but she knew that many things could only heal with time. In only three weeks Harry had become a completely different person. And she couldn't face either Harry or Ron without a surge of helplessness and impotent anger. She needed a _face_ to blame, someone other than herself to be angry at.

_God... couldn't it just be over, and I could have them again, _she silently cried, tears forming at the corners of her eyes, _I just want them to be _them.

She undressed, yelling to her parents downstairs that she was going to shower. Before she got in, she looked in the mirror. Vanity was something that never crossed Hermione's mind, but the discovery of her body was something that she couldn't pass up. She ran her fingers down the center of her chest, and below the contours of each breast. She was always surprised at her changing appearance, and this, in all its shallowness, amused her.

Steam was already gathering above her, so she thought it best to enter the shower.

She let the hot needle-stream run down her hair and across her face, and it soothed her beyond all measure. Hermione sighed unconsciously, and a smile played on her lips as she let the spray massage her shoulders.

_I don't care what kind of potions and spells I could come up with, _she mused_, this is real magic._

"No girl," a vitriolic, velvet voice whispered into her ear, "_this_ is real magic."

Two long, skinless arms reached from behind her and pulled her against the cold tile. Hermione felt the slick hands pulling her by the waist and arms with an ungodly strength. The bones in her left arm crunched from beneath the grip and she screamed. Her spine was bending in an unnatural direction as the tile began to give way. The tile cracked and one of the hands slithered around her thighs.

She screamed. Her arms flailed and thrashed, but this only resulted in the sinewy limbs to constrict their grip on her. No less than five arms were crushing her against the wall, but as the pipes beneath the tile shattered and stabbed her, it became harder for her to breathe. She could vaguely hear the rumblings of people coming up the stairs. Her parents had heard her screaming and commotion and were running upstairs.

The bathroom door slammed shut.

"Leave...t-them... alone." She said through gritted teeth just before all of the light disappeared.

When her parents finally broke down her door, they saw a hole torn into the wall below the showerhead, and the jagged edges of the broken piping were slick with blood and sinew. Then they screamed. And screamed.

But the only hole was in the bathroom wall and not the room behind it.


	6. Calm

_(**Author's Notes:** Good lord, how time flies! Forgive the immense delay between updates, but for some reason, isn't liking the way I format my chapters... not certain why, but it deletes punctuation once I load it, despite my best efforts to edit beforehand. I hope you will understand if there are a few typos here and there, and if anyone would like to Beta for me, let me know... my e-mail is thanks, and enjoy!)**  
**_

_**Chapter Five... Calm**_

_**

* * *

**_

"Why are you here by yourself, the real reason?" I repeated as Cho's gaze faltered. Her eyes, so firm just a second before brittled before me, and she nervously bit her bottom lip.

She was only like this for a moment when she regained her composure, "Well, I suppose I could ask you the same question, couldn't I?"

Her pointed remark was so reminiscent of Hermione that I choked on my words, "I'm not alone, there are those little kids in the Tower as well... "

"You know what I mean." I slumped backwards onto a large cushion and rubbed my temples - I noticed that the room behind us was fading from blue into a hazy gray. The slick, cold perspiration that had run onto my hands from the goblet was like a cooling balm on my brow.

"I know." I said quietly. Cho came up next to me and lay on the other side of the cushion, "They had other things. To do, you know?"

"You expect me to believe that Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger _are not_ joined at the hip if they could be," She mused, but the look in her eyes was deadly serious.

"No," I whispered as I closed my eyes.

* * *

_Ginny lazily thumbed through a thick, leather-bound book by wandlight in the Orchard. School had been horrific this past year, but she spent most of it in a haze. Afterwards, though, she could remember every detail. She could feel the roosters necks snap in her small, lithe grip, guided by a then-unknown strength. Her tongue still had the vague memory of hissing a foreign language to that... beast. She could remember sending the beast after the evil-eyed cat, after the boy who had been insolent to Harry, and after that pathetic little boy who took the pictures. Ginny smiled - that had been a close one. She was thankful that the film had disintegrated within the camera... it might have given _them _away too soon. She savored the day that It had happened upon the vile little mudblood who Harry seemed to hold so dearly..._

_Vile little mudblood? _

_"Thats not me!" Ginny screamed at the top of her lungs, and not until she heard her voice crack was she was satisfied. She hated having those thoughts, but they had thankfully started to dissipate, along with everything else that was Tom Riddle. She couldn't imagine that somebody could have had such an absolute power over her, alive _or_ dead. _

_But at least here, in the Orchard, Ginny could relax. She clutched the book to her frail body. It was a muggle story book, old and withered, but her father had enchanted it to hold together. Such funny names the Muggles called them, Fairy Tales. With stories about troublesome elves and wicked witches, they delighted her as nothing else could. Her favorites were about a darkling who aids a miller's daughter by spinning straw into gold and another about a sleeping princess trapped high in a tower and guarded by a powerful dragon. Even the one the witch and the stepdaughter, although they were all equally fanciful and terrifying. At twelve years old, she knew that she was quickly outgrowing them, but she couldn't help but to hold onto it._

_The sun was beginning to set, so Ginny gathered up her book and started back toward the Burrow. She hated being alone in the dark..._

_

* * *

_

I opened my eyes to find Cho leaning over, her lips hovering cautiously over mine. I tried to speak, but something inside me told me not to. Without warning, she kissed me, and I melted. My eyes closed, and I felt her guide my arms around her waist. I silently collapsed... every awful moment, every pain and ache slid away as her arms wrapped around my shoulders. Everything was gone...

_Ron... Hermione... Ginny..._

I jerked back, out of Cho's arms and onto the cushions behind me. Cho herself sat back, a look of astonishment on her face. _God, why now_, I thought as thoughts of my friends flooded back in. I looked at Cho, her hair disheveled and her eyes pleading indignantly.

"Look," I said too quickly, "I can't do this."

"Why not!" Cho half-cried half-screamed, "Don't you think I want to forget too!"

"You dont forget, you _never_ forget! It stays and it haunts you until you either make it a part of you or let it eat you up from the inside. I would give _anything _to have Ginny, to have Cedric back, but it won't ever happen because there is something out there stronger than us that decides that, and so far they haven't bothered with it."

There were tears streaking down my face, and now the gates were open and everything wanted to come out, "Do you want to know why I can't kiss you, Cho? A girl that I had true feelings for died just after she had decided to live. I could barely get over my guilt from Cedric to get up here, and now I can still feel her inside. And as much as I want to just give in, I can't because I feel like it will hurt her, wherever she is."

"When you kissed me, I felt everything go away. All my friends, all my enemies, and beneath it all, Ginny. I can't have her leave me, because that keeps her alive _to me_. If I forget, she's gone forever, and there's nothing that I can do to get her back."

I fell to the ground, the soft cushions like air beneath me. Cho sat there, her mouth slightly open, but no words came out. I couldn't believe what I had just said, even though the tears were still fresh on my face. It was too much to process, and I could feel my scar throb sickeningly. I reached for the goblet and drank the remainder of it in one long gulp.

"I miss them," I held the empty glass still full of ice to my forehead, "but they needed, _we_ needed this time apart. Since it happened, everything has just been... wrong. Thats the only way I can put it."

But Cho only heard the goblet fall out of my hand and shatter on the ground.

The jagged, lightning scar that I bear on my forehead exploded.

* * *

_The snow was deep, but she tore through it like a whirlwind. Wet bits of it clung to her body, further shielding her from the elements. The wind sent shards of ice like knives at her. They pierced her earthen, icy armor, and it stung. Blood didn't flow, but it didn't need to. She held her left hand up to the gale, and the ice melted in the air. A small, dark rod was in her palm._

Taki_." She muttered_ _under her breath._

_A blast of flame erupted from the end of the wand, an eruption that blazed through stone and tree and ice alike, straight through the brush. It rushed forward, searing the earth into green glass before dying on the opposite side of the forest. The scent of burning underbrush scorched her nostrils, and she was aware of something she hadn't felt in a long time. She stopped for a second, letting the embers coil beneath her, as she tried to place the odd sensation. It writhed and twisted inside her nose, and the feeling came to her in a glaring moment of clarity:_

_It burned._

_She would have laughed if she could have. The sensation was so... petty - she didn't know why she had bothered to stop for it. It only diverted her from her true course. With a twisted grin, she stepped forward... and stopped. There was a better way._

_She held the dark wand in the air, and a maelstrom whirled around her. Faster than before, without the obstruction of trees and wildlife, she blazed down her path toward a dark castle on the horizon._

_

* * *

_

"Good lord," I heard a voice from far away, "this is the second time today. I don't care what Dumbledore thinks, that scar of his is more of a curse than a blessing."

"Do you think that the _hallucinari _effect did this to him?" another voice, this one younger, said in a hurried tone.

"I doubt it. Something's been off with him ever since this morning... I hope it isn't what Dumbledore thinks it is."

My eyes felt swollen, as if I had gotten into a bad fight, and I could hear something sizzling on my forehead. My stomach turned as the scent of burning flesh reached my nose. The sizzling was _the scar._

"Does this happen often!" the other voice grew a bit more frantic.

"As much as it pains me to say it, it does." a much different, older voice answered. I could hear soft footsteps and a light gasp. Through the pain I opened my eyes and I could make out a hazy vision of Dumbledore approaching my bedside. He seemed as casual as ever, but his voice sounded worried. I saw Cho at my left and Madam Pomfrey to my right, closest to Dumbledore.

"Headmaster," Cho looked amazed at the sight of him. It took a moment for me to realize that she may not see him as often as I have.

"How long has he been here?" Dumbledore directed his question toward Madam Pomfrey.

"About twenty minutes, sir."

She took the icepack off of my head and almost immediately, the pain returned. I couldn't help but cry out loud, and both Cho and Madam Pomfrey jumped with surprise. Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and the bag of water froze over again. She placed it on my scar, and relief spread through me. I could hear the hiss of steam coming from the ice.

"Harry," Dumbledore whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "what did you see?"

The sense of dread began to fill me again... and I felt the cold of the outdoor snow. I looked around and saw something that only opened the gates in my mind. There was a _hole_ in the forest.

I ran through the falling snow, and I felt it melt against my bare arms and freeze again. The closer I got, the stronger the smell became. The smell of burning leaves and stone. I was there, and I could still see the wood burning. When I stepped, I could feel something crunching beneath my feet. I crouched down and examined the earth... the dirt had been melted into a pale, yellow glass. The heat emanated in waves from the burned trees, from stone molten into slag. Whatever had been here, it had cut a swath straight through the entire forest. A path from-

No.

I started running, following the path through. Before long, I reached the gorge... there were marks in the stones just off the side, marks that reached up and over the sheer rock. Marks like nails would make. I looked at my hands.

The fingernails were bloody.

"Harry!" I felt hands shaking me, "Harry, wake up!"

I opened my eyes to find Dumbledore standing above me, "I'm here."

He audibly sighed, and walked back as I sat up in the bed. There were wet, red stains from where I had gripped the sheets.

"Harry," Dumbledore whispered, "Is it Tom?"

Before I could answer, a loud, percussive _boom_ echoed from outside. The castle itself shuddered and groaned, and I could see Dumbledore's eyes widen in alarm.

I laughed, a hideous, ironic cackle as I lay back into my bed. Dumbledore turned to face me as Cho tried to steady herself.

"No." I laughed as tears streamed down my face.

"What is it!"

I looked around at all of them, a group that I never thought would have been here at the beginning of this year. The only thing I could tell them was the truth.

"She's here."


	7. Storm

**_Chapter Six... Storm_**

"As I live and breathe..." Madam Pomfrey gripped my bedside table to hold herself steady and the castle settled. I pulled off the covers and got out of bed, the icepack still held to my forehead.

"No! Harry, you have to stay put!" Cho grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to sit me back down, but I struggled against her. The ice pack slid off and the heat returned with full force. I screamed as I fell backwards against the bed, and Cho frantically reached for my hands. It felt as though white-hot needles were trying to tear a hole into my skull, but I managed to grab one of her hands and I pulled myself up.

"It's not safe here anymore," I told a frantic Cho, "She'll be inside soon, and we don't want to be here when she gets here."

"Harry!" I turned to see Dumbledore withdraw his wand from his robes, "I need you to get into my office and seal the door behind you. The password is 'Almond Hershey.' Go, now!"

Cho grabbed my hand and we dashed toward the doors. With a wave of my hand, they blew open and we raced down the corridor.

* * *

_The castle was fighting back. It quaked and shuddered under her power, but it refused to give way. She knew that there were protections, enchantments older than the OLD MAN and more powerful than... _

_... THE BOY... the very thought of him burned behind her eyes, and the heat curled up and fought to be free. She raised the dark wand to face the castle, and a bolt of sizzling, shattered light struck like a thunderclap. The great, wooden doors crackled with the power, and a long, thin crack formed just left of the knocker. She smiled; it wouldn't__t take nearly as much power as she thought it would and there would be one less obstacle between her and THE BOY. _

_  
_

_

* * *

_

I could see the doorway at the end of the hall, the shimmering phoenix guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office. The sizzling on my forehead had subsided, but the heat was still there. A feeling of foreboding hung in my thoughts, oppressive and black. She couldn't be here, she just couldn't!

_She's dead. _

"What's wrong?" Cho's cheeks were flushed and her chest heaved with each gulp of air she took.

Whatever was in my belly turned foul and nausea clutched at my throat. Worms crawled beneath my flesh, eating the bone and marrow -

...and all at once, I was outside. The steps to the castle were cracked and chipped, and the mammoth wooden doors had been blown apart. I ascended the steps and ran through the doors. The hall was in shambles - rubble and slag were scattered throughout the corridor. The decorative ribbons and scrolls were ablaze and the hourglasses that indicated house points had been shattered... and the swath was headed in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Harry!" Cho grabbed my shoulders and was furiously shaking me, "What's wrong!"

"I can... feel her," I blinked my eyes to get them to focus, "She's headed to my Common Room, so we need to get there first."

"Dumbledore said to wait in his office!"

"Dumbledore doesn't know where she's going, and more than likely, he told the other houses to get to their Common Rooms too. She destroyed the castle doors, so my guess is that the Fat Lady wont be able hold her back."

"The kids," Cho's gaze fell as she began to understand my words, "The first-years."

I grabbed her hand and we took off toward the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore ran down the hallway, his royal blue robes billowing out behind him. He was followed by Minerva McGonagall and Alastor Moody in a triad formation. Minerva's worry grew with each second Albus was silent, and the sound that Alastor's false eye made as it rolled in it's socket gnawed at her patience.

_At least the other houses had been notified,_ she thought, and her pace quickened. Albus was quick to alert the other teachers, who immediately escorted the remaining students to their respective common rooms. Minerva herself had escorted the Gryffindor first-years to their common room and threatened detention until the end of the year if they were to leave. Just to be on the safe side, she told the Fat Lady not to let them out until she came to fetch them.

"Potter's on the move," Moody suddenly growled. Albus came to an abrupt stop and Minerva nearly toppled him over. She turned to face Alastor and saw that his false eye was completely white - it was looking behind him.

"Why?'' she said impatiently, "Did he not go at all?"

"Oh no, he got as far as the door to Albus' office, but he and the Chang girl just rabbited off in the opposite direction."

"I wonder..." Albus finally spoke, closing his eyes in thought, "Alastor, can you see what is attacking the castle?"

Alastor gave a dark chuckle, "She's already inside."

"Damn." Albus furrowed his brow, "Is it going after Harry."

"Give me a second," Moody slowly turned in place, his false eye literally shaking in its cradle, "I can't draw a bead on her anymore."

"How is that possible?" Minerva demanded, "And why do you keep calling it _she_!"

"How the bloody hell should I know! Whatever this is, it isn't what attacked the castle... not entirely anyway."

"Could you kindly elaborate on that, Alastor?" Albus seemed to have noticed Minerva's faltering patience.

Alastor wiped the sweat from his forehead before continuing, "I was already heading out after the first strike. But the second I left my office, I could see her - and believe me Minerva, it is a _her_. There is no mistaking who it is."

Minervas face fell, "It's true?"

Her voice was begging, pleading to Albus, but the fear was confirmed when Albus turned away.

"It's true," Moody said in his own stolid tone, "And she isn't alone."

"Where is she going, Alastor?" Albus placed a hand on Minerva's shoulder. Her face was unreadable, but Albus detected a squared glint in her eyes.

Alastor's false eye rolled into its natural position, "If I'm not mistaken, she's going to the Gryffindor Common Room. She's almost there."

* * *

I dashed upstairs as quickly as I could, Cho following alongside. She had ditched her heels a few floors back to keep up with me... that meant that she knew the urgency behind the task at hand.

"We're almost there," I said as we got off the stairwell and turned into the next hallway. Color draped every inch of the walls in the form of paintings and portraits. I could feel eyes and voices following us, chiding us for being up so late, but there was only one voice I listened for - one painting in particular that my eyes scanned for. I smiled as I saw her, tucked away two paintings from the rear wall. The Fat Lady hummed a mournful tune as she lazily thumbed through a thick, leather-bound tome.

"Gobbledy-Gook." I managed to say before I clutched at the wall to catch my breath. I noticed Cho doing the same thing.

"Sorry, Dearie,'' The Fat Lady drawled as she turned another page.

It took a moment to register, "What!"

"I am sorry," she mused as she popped a chocolate into her mouth, "but only Minerva McGonagall can open this door. I can't let you in."

"But the kids aren't safe in there!" I screamed. The Fat Lady jumped at my voice and her book went flying, "I'm going to take them to Dumbledore's office with me, now let me in!"

She straightened out her hair and glared indignantly, "Go ahead!"

The painting swung open, and I ran inside. Cho and I walked through the short tunnel and were finally greeted by the warmth of the fire and two very nervous looking first-years sitting on the couches. The drapery was as grand as ever and the high stained-glass windows shimmered gloriously despite the fact that the moon was smothered in cloud cover. They immediately sat up as I approached them.

"H-harry!'' one of them chirped and the other's eyes widened.

"Look," I said in as soft a voice as I could muster, ''You two have to come with me, we are going to Dumbledore's office to wait for awhile."

"We dont want to wait anymore!" The other one said, "We can help!"

"You can't, I mean... not now." I sighed, trying to think of something to tell them, "We need to wait for Dumbledore to tell us that it's okay."

"But-!"

"I know you want to help," Cho interjected, "but right now its best for us to go to Dumbledore's office. He has other things he has to do, so we need to watch his office until he gets back."

It _was_ a bit patronizing, but her voice was so soothing that it even placated _my_ fears, however briefly. The first-years nodded in unison, and Cho stood up, her eyes reflecting the fireplace's warm glow.

A scream pierced the silence, and an earth-shattering _boom_ quaked through the walls. I caught myself on the armrest of one of the sofas, but Cho and the kids fell to the floor. I rushed over to help Cho to her feet.

"What was that?" She asked, pulling the hair out of her face. She helped one of the kids to their feet.

"No!" I screamed, pulling the other kid up and taking him to Cho, "Cho, I need you to take them up the stairs to the right and into the third door. That's my room. Hedwig should be in there. Owl someone... anyone, but get them out of here fast."

There was another blast, and the painting blew in. Shards of wood flew out from the tunnel, and dust trickled down from the rafters. I heard soft, padding steps, and I stood in front of Cho. A figure emerged from the darkness of the tunnel, soaking wet and pale as bone. It was naked except for the rags that hung loosely from its legs and shoulders, and the mud that caked her hands and feet. Its hair was blood red that hung in streaky threads across her face, and blood dripped from her fingertips. In her left hand was a dark rod that bore a thin, brown crack... my wand. _My_ wand. It looked at me from behind its dead, brown eyes, and it grinned. I couldn't move, but my voice never wavered.

"Hello, Ginny."


	8. All The Way

_**Chapter Seven... All the Way**_

_**

* * *

**_

She was walking death - white skin a sharp contrast to her clotted, bloody fingertips and the thick, dark mud that covered her feet. The rags draped across one shoulder were rotted and brown as were the ones that wrapped around a single leg. Other than that, she was naked and shivering. The temperature in the room had dropped considerably, and hot steam escaped my mouth as I breathed.

"Oh my god," I heard Cho whisper, and she wrapped her arms around the first-years protectively. Ginny, however, didn't seem to notice and she took a single step... towards me.

My body tightened as gooseflesh prickled my arms, but I stood tall as she took another step. She was about twenty feet away when she raised her left hand towards me. The floor suddenly seemed less stable as a tremor began to build beneath us, and I lost my balance. I grabbed hold of the armrest to steady myself, and when I looked up, I saw the wand pointed directly at my face. Ginny's hand was rigid, and I could clearly see the crack on the wand flare with energy. With _power._ She could look right into my eyes... and a hideous smile broke out on her face.

"B-boy..." she said with a mouth full of dirt, "_T-tak-"_

_"Stupefy!_" Cho screamed, her wand already drawn. The spell burst from her wand and slammed into Ginny's abdomen. Ginny stumbled backwards a few steps, but she didn't seem to be otherwise affected by the spell. She looked at me with those same dead eyes and raised her wand again.

"_Stupefy!"_

The second blast caught her in the face, and she reeled. Fresh blood poured from her mouth, but if Ginny felt any pain, she didn't show it. This time, Ginny turned to face Cho.

"No!" I cried, running right at her. She raised her right hand and pointed at me - almost immediately, my scar burst open. Before I hit the ground, I felt thick, coppery fluid pouring down my face and I fell right into the stone steps.

"Harry!" I heard one of the first-years cry, and I looked around to see Ginny approaching Cho and the kids. Her cheeks were flushed and her chest heaved, but her eyes reflected steely determination. Cho raised her wand again and aimed at Ginny's chest.

"_Stupefy!"_

The blast raced toward Ginny, but in a motion too quick for my bloodied eyes to catch, she brought her right hand around and actually _caught_ the spell. It gathered in an almost perfect sphere, and flecks of red crackled across Ginnys palm. She tilted her head as if she were studying it, her gaze almost child-like. Then, without another thought, she tossed it aside. The stunning spell flew into an oak bookshelf and cracked it in two.

Cho's widened in shock, and Ginny raised her left hand. Without a thought, Cho pushed the first-years behind her and onto the ground before raising her wand again.

"_Stupefy!" _The blast glanced off of Ginny's shoulder and right into the ceiling above me. The first-years began to crawl toward the stairwell as Cho stumbled backwards.

_"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!_" Cho sank to her knees as the spells bounced off of the approaching creature. Tears ran down her face, but she stared defiantly even as Ginny knocked her wand away.

"Whore," Ginny said in her dirty, gravelly voice before leveling my wand with Cho's eyes, "Can't t-take him a-away..."

No other way... there was no other way. I raised my hands toward Ginny and concentrated. My hands began to burn as I formed the spell in my mind, formed a mantra that permeated throughout my every thought. Blood began to pour anew as I concentrated, but that no longer mattered. Smoke wafted from the palms of my hands and I opened my eyes.

"_Incendio!_" I shouted at the top of my lungs. A rolling flare escaped my hands and roared across the room. It rammed Ginny in the small of her back, and she caught fire. Ginny jerked backwards and lowered her hands. She slowly turned to face me, the flame burning the remaining rags off of her body. Her eyes reflected the fire in red pinpoints as she seemed to forget about Cho and walk towards me.

"Come on," I whispered, glancing out of the corner of my eyes to see if the kids had left with Cho. They were halfway up the stairs to the bedrooms, but Cho had retrieved her wand and was getting ready to resume her attack.

_No,_ I thought as Ginny loomed closer, _get away from here!_ My hands still burned from my earlier spell and I was starting to feel lightheaded... probably from all of the blood I'd lost. The fire cast Ginny in a sort of dark silhouette as the last of the burning rags fell from her unscathed body. She seemed cloaked in darkness, ink that wrapped around every curve and crevice. It was beautiful in a twisted way, and I raised my hands once again. But before I could begin to concentrate, she pointed at me. There was no more blood for me to bleed, so the scar simply began to burn. The blood on my forehead began to blacken and curl and burn away, leaving only the stench of rot. I lost my train of thought, and my hands fell into my lap. They twitched and spasmed beyond my control as she came to a stop right in front of me. My head felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds, but I managed to raise it and look her in the eyes. They still looked dead, but there was a manic gleam behind the brown... behind Ginny herself. She looked _hungry. _She raised my wand and aimed it at the scar.

_Let it be quick,_ I thought... letting everything go. Everyone evaporated - every person and thing that I knew. My burdens faded as I saw the energy shimmer from the crack in the wand, and I was ready. I closed my eyes.

_Do it._

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _I heard an older, furious voice roar. A violet beam rocketed against Ginny's chest and launched her across the room and into the wall above the fireplace. The stone cracked with the impact, and Ginny fell to the floor. A flash of blue crossed my vision and I felt strong hands pulling me to a sofa.

"Good lord, Albus." a rough, male voice whispered, "Even I couldn't have anticipated this."

"Don't worry, Alastor," the older voice said, "I'm just thankful that the damage was contained to this room."

"But at what cost?" a woman's voice interjected, acrimonious at the other two. I felt soft hands cradle my head and begin wiping the blood from my glasses.

"Ms. Chang, where are the other two children I saw up here earlier?" the rough voice inquired in what it thought was a fatherly tone.

"I saw them run upstairs... they probably went into Harry's bedroom, like he said to."

When my glasses were placed back onto my head, I opened my eyes to see Professor McGonagall warmly stroking my hair, "Are you alright, Harry?"

I could barely move and my hands ached, "Yes ma'am."

"Is Harry okay?" I saw Cho join Professor McGonagall in my field of vision.

"For now," she replied, turning to someone I couldn't see, "We need to get him to Poppy right away."

"Alastor, would you go and fetch the children?" the older voice asked, "We must get Harry back to Poppy in my office."

I struggled to sit up, but Professor McGonagall held me down, "Whether you believe it or not, Mr. Potter, youre badly injured. I wouldn't suggest moving right now."

"I'm fine." I said, pulling myself to a sitting position with Professor McGonagall still grasping my shoulders, "Where's Ginny?"

Dumbledore glanced at the fireplace and Ginny still lay on the floor. She seemed so... fragile. Her pale skin looked red in the fire's glare. My wand was still clutched in her left hand, somewhat sinister in the red light.

"We will take her as well." He said, but his eyes were clearly disturbed by what he saw, "Perhaps Poppy can..."

He trailed off - Ginny began to rise from the ground. Her shoulders rose first, as if someone was pulling a marionette to it's feet. Her head dangled loosely from her shoulders, the blood red hair glowing with the firelight. The grip on my wand tightened, and she raised her head to look at us. Through dead eyes something intelligent studied us, and she tilted her head to the right a bit. She coughed, and rusty-colored fluid flowed down her lips and chin. I could _hear_ the popping and cracking of bone as she straightened up, and the smile crossed her face once more.

"I'm only going to say this once, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore withdrew his wand from someplace in his sleeves and leveled it at Ginny, "Stand down!"

She raised her left hand to her face, eyes hidden by the strip of wand. Without warning, she pounced with inhuman speed to the opposite wall. She drew my wand back as she kicked off of the wall and straight toward Dumbledore!

_Keshite!_" She shrieked, her face twisted into a demonic mask. Dumbledore deftly leaped out of the way with an agility greater than his age should allow. The wand came forward like a sword, and an invisible force flew past us and into the opposite wall. The wall absorbed the blow for a moment, but then a long cut from ceiling to floor materialized. The entire section of wall silently fell backwards to the ground outside. The cold winter wind came into the tower, chilling me to the bone. Dumbledore inspected the damage and then raised his left arm. His sleeve had been almost cut off, save for a thread that held the dangling fabric to the garment. He calmly reached over and tore the sleeve off before drawing his wand again.

Dumbledore raced forward, wand held ready like a sword, and slashed at Ginny. She jumped backwards just in time to avoid the blow, and she leaped up to the ceiling. Aiming directly down at Dumbledore, she uttered her spell.

_"Taki."_

An eruption of fire rained down on Dumbledore, and his form was lost in the flame. Prof. McGonagall sat up, her wand at the ready, but the gnarled hand of Prof. Moody grabbed her arm.

"Minerva," was all that he said, and she sat back down, her lips pursed. Cho came to my other side and simply watched. I could see the fire reflected in her eyes.

The flame subsided, and Ginny leaped back to the ground. She rose from her agile crouch to inspect her handiwork. The floor where Dumbledore stood was almost non-existent, having been seared into molten slag. Not a trace of Dumbledore could be found, and Ginny turned her attention to us. I could feel Prof. McGonagall's hand tighten her grip on my shoulder as she withdrew her wand, but Cho and Moody beat her to the punch.

"Take another step and I will kill you where you stand." Cho uttered as she stood up. Moody didn't reply, but both of his eyes were keen and focused on the target before him. I tried to raise an arm to stop them, but a sharp pain streaked through my body, and I fell against the sofa.

"I don't think that will be necessary." Dumbledore mused as he stepped out from behind a pillar that was far too small to have hidden him. Ginny turned around and snarled, but as quick as he appeared, Dumbledore slid behind the pillar again. Like a great beast, Ginny ran to his hiding place, only to find it empty. She glanced from left to right, frustration building beneath her monstrous exterior. Ginny ran from the bookshelves to behind us with her bizarre speed, but to no avail. Dumbledore was nowhere to be found.

"D-dumbledore!" She roared, and she pointed my wand at us again. Power built faster in my wand than Cho's or Moody's could, and their wands flew out of their hands and behind Ginny. She smiled, broadcasting her intentions loud and clear. I heard a loud _crack_, and Ginny suddenly jerked forward. Her smile faded just before the ground rushed up to meet her. As her body was gently laid on the ground by the moving, tactile stone, Dumbledore was visible behind her. He was leaning against a wall, and whistling to himself. He had a pair of good sized rocks in his hand.

"Sometimes the simplest methods are the best." He said as he tossed the rocks aside. The first-years came up behind me, their eyes wide with worry.

"Harry, are you alright?" One of them asked. I sat up, wiping dried blood from my right eye.

"Never better." They grinned and ran to check on Cho.

Dumbledore lightly stepped around Ginny's body and bent over to pick up a rock lying next to her, "Sorry for waiting so long, but the epiphany didn't strike me until just a second ago."

Moody let out a hearty chuckle as he lowered his wand, "Always were the show-off, even in school!''

McGonagall, however, wasn't amused, "Are you confident that she is actually down this time."

Moody was already on that fact, it seemed. He was crouched next to Ginny's naked body and checking her pulse. He grunted, and then rose to his feet. He removed his overcoat and covered Ginny with it before scooping her up and laying her on the couch adjacent to mine.

"Albus," He said, his magical eye scanning all around the room, "She's alive."

Dumbledore turned to Moody, "What?"

"Only just, but that's not what the problem is." Moody stood up and withdrew his wand, "The shadow's gone."

"How could that be, Alastor?"

"The second that girl lost consciousness, it left her. But its still in here, I can feel it."

Dumbledore's face lost its easy-going demeanor and tensed up. He also readied his wand and stood up, "Minerva, will you escort them to my office? Make sure that they get there this time."

"Of course." McGonagall helped me to my feet and all of us - Cho, McGonagall, the first-years, and myself - walked away from the horrific scene and out of the room.

* * *

"Albus, I think that we need to regroup. Bring Flitwick and maybe Hagrid."

Albus Dumbledore rubbed his forehead, still trying to shake off the effects of Ginevra's fire spell. Alastor must have noticed, because walked over to Dumbledore and offered him his flask.

"By the way, nice trick back there," he mused as Albus took a swig from the flask, "I havent seen that spell in fifty years. I didn't think that there was a way to avoid it."

"There isn't," Albus replied, returning the flask to Alastor, "I was lucky... her initial attack took more out of her than she thought."

"Still," Alastor helped himself to a drink, "That bit with the rock was genius. Do you remember Professor Demetrios? _Never let your guard down, and never underestimate your opponent... now bring me my drink!"_

Albus couldn't help but laugh at the thought, "Good lord, that woman... don't remind me. She made us run circuits around the castle every time we couldn't beat her in a dual. I was just thankful that when I finally bested her, she laughed about it... rest her soul."

"So what do you think? Should we wait or should we regroup?"

He ran his fingers through his beard for a moment before answering, "We need to wait. If it gets past us, they will be our only defense."

Alastor considered this, and then nodded, "Agreed... it has been an honor to work with you, Albus."

"And I with you, Alastor." Albus replied.

They turned their heads as they heard steps coming down the stairs from the dormitories. The figure wore a black cloak of the finest velvet, and his boots clicked against the stone floor as he walked toward them. He was short, hardly taller than the hunched Alastor Moody, but he was broad, a diminutive hulk. His face was round and clean-shaven, but his lips were a deathly near-violet, like that of a victim of suffocation. His eyes were hidden behind smoked-glass spectacles and his hair was black and spiked with a red sheen. He glared at Alastor and Albus from behind the glasses and he grinned.

"What are you?" Albus said, clutching at his wand.

The Creature smiled his hideous smile and replied in a vitriolic, velvet voice, "I am Mujaki."


	9. Innocent

**_(Author's Notes: _**_I would first of all like to apologize for the ridiculously long wait between chapters... I think I just needed to find my muse again. I've completed up till Chapter Fifteen and I want to keep this updated al least twice a week, all the way to the bitter end. For anyone still reading this... Thank you. -Matt Rios_

* * *

**_Chapter__Eight... Innocent_**

* * *

I leaned heavily against Prof. McGonagall as we treaded down the hallway. When Dumbledore had... stopped Ginny, the burning in my scar receded to a mild tingle. My thoughts were clearing, but the rest of my body had yet to catch up. It felt as though I had been deprived of sleep for several months. My hands were the worst - the palms were an angry, inflamed red and tiny blisters were forming at the edges.

"Where are we going, Professor?" One of the first-years asked.

"We will head to Dumbledore's office and wait there for his return." Prof. McGonagall answered, but her mind seemed elsewhere.

"What was that... monster?"

Prof. McGonagall was silent.

The golden phoenix that guarded the Headmaster's office stood nobly and proud in its doorway, and we paused at its threshold. Cho reached for my other arm and McGonagall passed me over to Cho while she recited the password, 'Almond Hershey.' With its activation, the phoenix began to rise and the stone floor below it molded into an ascending stairway. With a bit of effort, Cho and I climbed the stairwell ahead of the first-years and Prof. McGonagall and entered the door at the peak.

Dumbledore's office was a small cathedral of paintings and sculptures, all engaged in furious chatter, with a row of the Headmasters of the past lining eye level. The tables and shelves were littered with various silver mechanisms that ticked and whirred in their own languages, and his desk itself presided over the lower atrium. Madam Pomfrey was pacing nervously on the higher level above the desk, her heels clicking as she turned.

"Poppy! Were here!" Prof. McGonagall cried up into the greater atrium, "Harry needs your attention!"

Madam Pomfrey raced down a side stairway that I hadn't noticed and immediately began assessing my injuries.

"What happened?" she said, her economical hands feeling the bruises on my arms and tracing the contours of my palms.

"There was an attack... in the Gryffindor Common Room. Something attacked Mr. Potter and Ms. Chang, but Harry here seems to have gotten the worst of it."

Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue as she inspected my scar, "This looks bad... I can patch him up, but I suggest that we get him to St. Mungo's as quickly as possible."

"I'll be fine," I said, moving her hand off of my face. I walked over to the stairwell, favoring my right foot, before losing my balance and nearly falling down. I heard Madam Pomfrey give an exasperated sigh before sitting me on the second lowest step. She conjured an icepack for my head, pulled Cho over to me, and stuck it in her hand.

"Here," She said, "Hold this on his head while I try to think of what to brew for him."

I lay back against the steps as she turned and walked away. Cho carefully placed the icepack against my scar, to my great relief. Cool rivulets of condensation trailed down my face from the bag and it felt magnificent.

"You were brilliant, Harry," Cho whispered, adjusting the pack, "I can't believe that you were able to _do_ that."

"Yeah, a great bloody hero I am," I said, "I couldn't even get close to her."

"Harry, you made fire come out of your hands. You saved the kids, you saved _me_... " She whispered, a tinge of rose in her ivory cheeks, "I think that you deserve some credit."

I looked down at my hands, which were still blistered and red, "I didn't think I could do that, it was a last resort."

Cho reached for my right hand and studied it with her fingers, "Well, at least you get to impress the girls with your battle scars."

Scars.

"I've already got my fair share of scars," I said jokingly, and my side twitched in pain, "I reckon I'll end up looking like Professor Moody before my seventh year is out."

Cho gazed at the jagged, lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and I continued on, "Well, the one on my forehead isn't all - on the side of my head is a small one where I got nicked by the Whomping Willow in my second year, and I have a pretty good one on my right arm..."

I continued: the puncture wound on my right arm where the Basilisk had bitten me, and how it came to be; a scratch on my left cheek from the Shrieking Shack; a thin, white line on my shoulder where the Hungarian Horntail had flailed her tail at me - each one from a different year, each one a different story. I finally reached the last one when Cho finally looked away from me. She wiped something off of her face with the collar of her blouse, and her hands were shaking.

"So, each one has a story, each one has a friend," She said, her voice cracking, "but what about the scars that you dont see?"

"What do you mean?"

Cho turned to face me, adjusting the icepack as she spoke, "Was that... thing Ginny Weasley?"

My blood froze, and I looked right into Cho's dark eyes, pools of ink in which I could see my distorted reflection. They shimmered with flinty determination and intelligence, and had none of the manic spark that fueled Ginny's gaze for those few, horrific moments, none of the almost predatory hunger inside of them. Tears began to form at the corners of my eyes.

"Yes." I answered, feeling completely and utterly drained, "Yes, it was."

Cho removed the icepack to freeze it again, her face blank, "Oh my god... how did she... I mean, I thought she had died. In an accident."

"Yes... she did."

* * *

_The Great Hall was bustling when Harry had emerged from the hospital wing. It was an ordinary dinner to most of them, with the glaring exception of the teachers at the Head Table. Without them, the Hall had descended into utter chaos. The Slytherins were chanting and hawking at a few Gryffindors, who retaliated in various, creative ways. Fred and George had the attention of the others, and were standing at the head of the Gryffindor Table. They demonstrated their latest products, as well as their old stand-bys, like canary creams, and ton-tongue toffees. Most of the Ravenclaws were in the middle of conversations, and Harry barely noticed Cho, who sat alone near the end of their table. He approached Ron, who seemed to be sharing an especially funny joke to Seamus Finnigan, and Hermione was absorbed her volume of Caring For Thestrals: When To Love And When To Hide. When she caught sight of Harry, she smiled cautiously, and Harry could already feel fresh tears forming. Her face fell as he came closer... when she saw no Ginny behind him. Harry had earlier passed out in the hallway, raving about the forest. Neither Ron, nor Hermione had been allowed to visit him, so this was the first time they had seen him since the storm hit._

_Harry walked past the Slytherin table to get to his seat next to Hermione and Ron, and Draco Malfoy turned in his chair to face him._

_"Hello, Potter," He said in his snarky, sardonic tone, "Where have you..."_

_Harry glared down at him, and something in Harry's eyes caused Malfoy to cease. He looked at Harry strangely before regressing to his seat. Harry sat down in between Hermione and Ron, and immediately put his head down._

_"Harry," Hermione gently shook Harrys shoulder, "Wheres Ginny? Did you find h-"_

_There was the gentle sound of crystal in the Hall, and the students voices stopped their conversations. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was alone at the Head Table, and he tapped his goblet with a golden knife._

_"May I have your attention, please?" Dumbledore's voice was calm, but it lacked its usual mirth. Dumbledore himself looked as if hed had the wind knocked out of him, "There is something... important that must be said today."_

_Hermione's hands rubbed Harry's shoulders, and she felt him shake beneath her fingers._

_"Just after lunch today, as you all know, a storm hit the Hogwarts campus, as well as the surrounding forests. A... student was outdoors when it happened, and another student took it upon himself to rescue the other. Due to the severity of the storm, the student lost her way back the castle and had entered the Forbidden Forest. The other student had the foresight to realize this, and he ventured after her. After a long, hard trek, he found the first student, alone, on the mouth of the gorge that separates us from the rest of England. He rescued her, but there was an accident, and she fell off the mouth."_

_He cleared his throat before continuing, "That student was Ginevra Weasley."_

_What little noise there had been suddenly ceased. The silence weighed down upon the room, and Ron simply stood there, his mouth agape. Fred and George had no expression on their faces, and they leaned into one another for support. Hermione was the first to start crying, and Harry took her in his arms, the tears freely flowing now. This wasn't passion, but utter grief, and they cried into each other as Ron broke down next to them. The Gryffindor table had burst into tears, and the other students, no matter the house, got up from their seats and came to comfort their companions. Ron's long arms encircled both Harry and Hermione as best as they could, and Fred and George joined them. In the center of it, Harry cried out, "I'm sorry, Im sorry!" to Hermione, and she raised her red, tear-streaked face to try and console him, alternating between kissing his face and crying the words, "Its okay, its okay," into his shoulder, only half-believing it herself. Ron's cries of anguish were muffled by Harry's shoulders. They stayed there, huddled together, yet alone, for as long as the light lasted that night, and well into the morning after..._

* * *

"How are you sure she actually died?" Cho's words were frantic, as if her life depended upon solving this problem, "How do we know that Dumbledore didn't make that up?" 

"Dumbledore didn't make it up!" I almost screamed, and the pain in my side made me remember my limits.

"How do you know!"

"Because I was there when she died! I saw her fall..."

Cho stopped talking, and her eyes glazed over, "Y-you? You were there. Then the girl, the girl you talked about was..."

Madam Pomfrey came over, a bowl of orange paste in her arms, "Now, lets see if we can't get those burns taken care of."

She spread the paste as delicately as she could, and I felt almost instant relief permeate through my palms. The paste was also applied to my forehead, and I could feel my thoughts run more clearly as the pain was alleviated. I felt a slight tingling in my side, and then I could breathe without feeling as though I was being stabbed.

"That takes care of your superficial injuries, but I strongly suggest that we take you to St. Mungo's as soon as Dumbledore returns- "

_Boom!_

A thunderclap echoed within Dumbledore's observatory, and the door from which we entered shook in its hinges. A fine curtain of dust flowed down from the ceiling, and I stood up. My lightheadedness had dissipated somewhat, but it was still there. Either way, I didn't care, and I readied myself for whatever came through the door. The first-years ran upstairs to Dumbledore's private library, as Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and Cho drew their wands and stood before me.

But I wasn't going to sit by this time, no matter the injury. I walked forward and took my place between Madam Pomfrey and Cho as another earth-shattering _Boom! _rocked the office. There was a sharp, metallic moaning, that reverberated sickeningly in the hollow, and then silence.

Then the golden phoenix from downstairs tore the office door from its hinges, its shimmering head ripping the stone threshold apart. It sank against the stone floor with a musical _bong_ and the room was quiet. McGonagall's eyes widened as she saw the base to the Phoenix was missing. The golden bird had been torn in half. The sound of clicking boots rang loudly in the gutted room, and a figure shrouded in black deftly stepped around the rubble. His hair was spiked and his spectacles shimmered redly in the light.

"Well," his voice was velvet as it was whispered through violet lips. It was difficult to tell because of the glasses, but I _knew_ that this... thing was staring at me with the same predatory hunger I had seen in Ginny's gaze, "You must be the famous Harry Potter."

He gazed around the room, eyeing each person, "What... _delicious_ company you keep."

A low moan escaped his mouth, and a long, black, cable-thick tongue licked his lips, "And I think that I am going to _eat _you all."


	10. Immaterial

**_Chapter Nine... Immaterial_**

****

* * *

****

It licked its lips, the thick, long tongue like that of some huge reptile retreating into the violet slit of its mouth. With a smirk that gleamed with the sharp edge of a scythe, the Creature took another step toward us.

Professor McGonagall breathed shallowly, as if the beast had sucked away the air in the room, but she raised her wand and lowered her voice, "Don't come any closer."

"_That _sounds familiar," It said, leering at Cho, and the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach returned... _It knew!_

The Monster's gaze came to me, "Of course I know, Harry. I know everything."

It's voice became softer, feminine, "You saw me, didn't you. I fell, and you just sat there with your mouth hanging open..."

IT was only a few steps away from me when I sank to my knees, the air leaving my body and my tears falling faster... and it whispered into my ear with _her _voice, "... and you know what? I believed every word you told me."

"_STUPEFY!" _Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and Cho roared simultaneously, and the resulting explosion of scarlet light soared just inches away from my head and launched the beast across the room. But through the corner of my eye, I could see it _smiling._

Professor McGonagall grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled me behind them as Madam Pomfrey did the same with Cho. She turned to me with the most serious look I'd ever seen on her face, "Harry, I'm going to send you and Cho as far away as I can... I need you to get somewhere, _anywhere_ that you think may be safe."

She turned and pointed her wand at a small crystal ball on the corner of Dumbledore's desk, "_Portus!"_

A fluttering breeze of silver flowed into the globe, and it shimmered with an ethereal light for a moment before returning to its original state.

Professor McGonagall looked me in the eyes, a hint of desperation beneath her stern visage, "You have twelve seconds... go!"

Cho grabbed the crystal just as a thunderous _crash!_ echoed in the room. A shadow leaped from beneath the remains of the golden phoenix and eclipsed the skylight. It's cloak spread wide, looking more like massive, leathery wings, and it smashed into the ground.

"_Reducto!_" Madam Pomfrey cried, and the blast glanced off of the Beast's shoulder. It grinned, and just as quickly as it rose, it disappeared.

_No, _I thought, his eyes glancing about the room, _not gone... that'__s too easy..._

Cho screamed, and I turned around to see the monster crouched on the top of the desk, staring right into her eyes.

"Hello, girl." It hissed, his mouth a void of black.

I lunged forward and pulled Cho back, raising my right hand to the creature.

_"Impedimenta!" _

An angry, violet beam escaped my open fist and it caught the monster right in the face, launching it into the rear bookcase. The spell seemed to hold for the time being, as the Beast struggled mightily against it.

"Three seconds, Harry!" Cho cried, and I grabbed onto her, holding on for dear life.

_Three... _I saw the monster free himself from the bookcase.

_Two... _It crawled along the wall like a great lizard, rearing up to pounce with murder in its hidden eyes.

_One_.

I felt the familiar tugging from behind my belly, and I grabbed onto Cho as tightly as I possibly could. It leaped from the wall, just inches from my...

... and we were suddenly far away... so fast that the room seemed a distant memory.

* * *

_The blacks never seemed to look right._

_It was late in the afternoon, but the sun still blazed overhead. _Just enough light_, she thought as she tried mixing a deep red with an equally bold orange, producing something like the color of flame. _

Fire_, she liked the word. Something so fluid and gorgeous... but it could consume anything, and everything... a curious thing. Ginny liked to pretend that she could see things in the fire, like dancers, or faces... she could vaguely make out the smiling face of her brother Bill, and maybe her father as well. She once tried to imagine Harry's face in the fire, but it never came out right. It wasn't that she couldn't remember his face... they were practically his second family... but it would never come together in her mind. The face would be too round, and she could never make out his eyes. Just the embers burning behind them. She supposed that it had to do with their color..._

_But as she filled in the uncolored area with her brush, she realized that she didn't like the blacks again. Most of the painting was dark by now, save for the fire-red that she used in the center. It was too stark, the burning red against the dark sky... it scared her a bit. Recently, all she would see in the fire would be a bird... too big to be an owl... too sinister to be a phoenix._

Oh well_, she thought as she began to put away her paints_, I can always try again tomorrow...

* * *

I was cold.

I sat up, and the icy wind bit at my bare shoulders. It was too hard to see, with sheets of snow falling around me, and I ignored the chilling cold as I began to feel the ground around me.

"Cho!" I cried out, panic holding a close grip on my heart as I sat up, the snow all the way to my knees, "Cho, answer me! Please!"

Under the howling wind, I heard coughing... somewhere to my right. I pushed through the furious blizzard, squinting from behind my soaked glasses. I saw her laying her belly, her arms holding her up. I grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her to her feet.

"It's t-too cold," she sputtered, and she coughed again, "Where are we?"

I looked around, trying to search for some clue, some sign of life, "I dont know!"

The snow was falling horizontally, and the wind gusted so fiercely that I could actually _feel_ the wind pick me up off of my feet for a second, "Oh god... where did she send us..."

Cho was shivering violently, the snow having soaked right through her silk blouse and long skirt, and I realized that I wasn't much better - my exposed shoulders were quickly turning blue.

"God... not like this," She cried, collapsing against me, "Not out here!"

The wind had penetrated right into my bones, and my blood had retreated as far within me as it could go... I sank to my knees, leaning on Cho as a support.

As snow clung to my skin, a horrible thought crossed my mind, _what if... just what if she sent us out here to die... rather than let that **monster **get us?_

I could feel the tears freezing against my eyes, and I screamed out into the black sky, all of the rage I had been feeling, everything poured out, "**WHY NOW!**"

As my eyes began to close, I felt the ground shake..._ no... it can't do that. We're not inside anymore._

I looked up, and my heart stopped in mid-beat - a huge shadow was fast approaching us..

"No..." I coughed out weakly, raising my free hand to it, "_Stupefy... stupefy..."_

I was too weak... not even a spark came from my hands. It was too hard to concentrate, and that shadow kept coming closer...

"Hey!" A gruff voice shouted, accompanied by a loud bark, "Who's out there! I know I 'eard some kinda racket out here!"

"Help..." My voice was soft and hoarse, not loud enough for them to hear with these winds, "help us..."

Cho was unconscious, and I felt her cold body fall limp beside me. I pulled her closer against me, trying to get her to awaken, "No... nonono..."

One chance, the only shot I had to get them over here... I breathed in as deeply as I could and put all my strength into it, "OVER HERE! HELP US!"

I fell to the ground from my effort, but the shadow sped up at the sound of my voice... closer... oh so close...

* * *

"You two'er a mess... could 'ardly believe it when I saw ya'll."

A voice roused me from my slumber, and I could feel warm hands gently lifting my head up, " 'ere... drink this."

A warm fluid teased at my lips, and I greedily swallowed it in great gulps. It was sweet, far sweeter than anything I had recently. Inside it warmed me with a strange power, and the numbness began to fade as warm blood circulated once more.

I coughed a bit, and the glass was removed, "There now, you'll be right in no time."

I opened my eyes and came face to face with the dark, shaggy face of Rubeus Hagrid. He smiled as I woke up, and he turned around to put the cup away.

Something immediately raced into mind, "Where's Cho?"

"That girl who was with you?" Hagrid motioned toward the fire, which didn't really help because he was still standing in the way, "When I saw 'er, I put 'er right by the fireplace. She was soaked to the bone... why were you out there, anyway?"

I choked on my words for a moment, but Cho's shaky voice sounded from behind Hagrid, "T-the castle... there was a-an attack."

Hagrid visibly flinched at her words, and he dropped the teapot is his hands, "WHAT?"

His voice rattled the windows, and Cho scooted away from him. I sat up, still shaky, "Something is up there, fighting with McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey right now."

"What about Dumbledore..." Hagrid wheezed, sounding as if the wind had been knocked out of him, "Is he there?"

"We don't know... he hadn't come back from the common room when he sent us to his office."

Hagrid struggled to regain his composure, and he took a deep breath, "Did anyone go with him?"

"Professor Moody."

Hagrid gathered the pieces of his broken teapot before speaking again, "And why are th' two 'o you out here?"

"Professor McGonagall made a portkey," Cho answered from the corner, her eyes on Hagrid, "That... _thing_ broke into Dumbledore's office.''

"What did it want?"

"I don't know," I replied, but something in the pit of my belly pushed me forward, and the answer just came out of my mouth, "I think it's after me.''

Hagrid nodded and he threw the broken teapot into the trash. He stood there for a moment, his great shoulders hunched over, "You said that th' thing that' after you... it broke in ter Dumbledores office?"

I nodded.

"Dumbledore's d...," he stated in a soulless monotone,unable to finish the words... all the air in my lungs left me, "An' McGonagall sent you down here. That means its up ter me than."

Before I could ask him anything, I was distracted by a light tapping on the window beside me. A white shape clambered valiantly to stay up on the windowsill... and I instinctively opened it.

Hedwig shot into the room, followed by an icy breeze. She landed on the bed as I shut the giant-sized window, and she shook herself off. A letter was in her beak, and she dropped it into my lap before flying to Cho and warming herself by the fireplace.

"What..." was all I could say as I tore the envelope open and pulled the letter out.

* * *

"No! God... please!" Harry threw the paper down as if it were diseased, and he ran into a corner, still whispering to himself, "No... no please, God no..."

Rubeus Hagrid had seen Harry endure everything in his five years at the school, everything from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named trying to kill him in his first year, to the TriWizard Tournament last year, where Dumbledore said that Harry had actually dueled with him... but nothing had ever done this.

"Harry... is there anything..." Hagrid began, but something in Harry's desperate sobs stopped him from going any further. Instead, Hagrid went to his bed and looked at the letter that Harry had thrown down. The girl that he had found with Harry eyed him warily as she followed Hagrid, and he picked up the letter and read it for himself.

The ink had smeared, most likely from the tear stains that dotted the parchment, but Hagrid's heart sank as he scanned the letter...

-

_Harry..._

_I really wish this had been Mum writing this, or that it hadn't happened at all. But we still needed to let you know, so I was given this particular task. I know that you don't know me all that well, but just know that all of us here still love you, no matter what happens. But to the task at hand..._

_I really don't know how to tell you this, and I know that my mother would know exactly the right words to say, and exactly how to break them down... but I'm not Mum. Ron... something happened to Ron today. Just as Dad got home, Ron started screaming in his room. By the time Dad had been able to restrain him, Ron had hurt himself badly, so we had to take him to St. Mungo's. The whole way there, he was still screaming, swearing up and down that something was trying to kill him. _

_But that's not all_... _we saw Hermione'__s parents there. They were out of their heads when we saw them, but Mum was able to get from the Healers that they had seen Hermione... something got at her. The way the Healers put it, it was as if the walls themselves had eaten her._

_God... I wish I could have told you better... but I really have to go. Please write, or get Dumbledore to let you come... I think that Ron would want you here when he wakes up._

_-Bill Weasley_

* * *


	11. Somnambulist

**_Chapter Ten... Somnambulist_**

* * *

I stumbled across the room and retched into Hagrid's wastebasket, my head spinning in so many directions that I couldn't help but be... _oh god..._

My chest burned as I threw up again, this time on the floor, and I collapsed onto the ground. Tears flowed beyond my control, and I began to cry. Hermione... that didn't happen... _couldn't _have happened... and Ron was at home, sitting in his room and eating chocolate frogs and...

I felt a hand on my back, much smaller than Hagrid's, and I heard Cho whisper into my ear, "Harry..."

"Leave me alone." I coughed, trying to catch my breath amid the rising bile. It felt as though somebody was stabbing me with a red-hot blade, slowly burning a trail through my heart with each second. I just couldn't... can't... Ron.

Cho was still there, but now she leaned onto my back with both hands, resting her head against the erratic rise and fall of my breathing. I futilely tried to thrust her off of my back, but she held onto me as I quaked and poured and cried into the floor, "Why won't you leave me? What is it you want from me!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry Potter." She whispered firmly, "I've got nowhere else to go."

"I don't have anyone."

"Well, neither do I!" Cho snapped, and then her breathing halted for a moment. I coughed again, and pulled myself to a sitting position. When I looked at her, it seemed as if all the color had drained from her and her eyes were too large for her face. She had clasped her hand to her mouth in shock and she turned away in embarrassment.

It took a minute for her to regain her composure, "Harry, look... that _monster_ is after us. I don't plan to just let it take the only thing I care about from me, and I don't think that you have anything else to lose if you fight."

I wiped my eyes with my hand, and I saw her tears again... but a fire burned behind them. She leaned into me and cried into my shoulder, "We have to fight..."

Hagrid tossed another log into the fire and guided us to the rug in front of it. Cho and I sat in silence, watching the fire flare and dance for what felt like the longest time. Fang had curled up behind us, and I found myself slowly beginning to lean back into him as drowsiness crept into my mind.

"It's late," Cho remarked, still bundled up in one of Hagrid's over-sized quilts. Hagrid himself was already falling asleep on his lounger in the corner, his seismic breathing muted by the crackle of the fireplace. A dilapidated Grandfather Clock in the corner read Two-Thirty a.m.

"You're right," I replied, a yawn intruding upon my words, "I'm just trying to... process today... does that make any sense?"

She glanced at me lazily, "Yes, it does."

_Boom!_

A thunderous knock from the front door rattled the windows and nearly scared us to death. Hagrid woke with a start and was on his feet faster than I had ever seen him. He glanced warily to the door, and then to us.

"Get behind me." He whispered, and he reached over our heads and pulled a crossbow from the wall large enough to use saplings for bolts. We stood up and hid behind his massive form, walking slowly toward the door.

He opened it, and my heart stopped. Standing just outside was a short figure cloaked in black, with black-tinted spectacles that shimmered redly despite the dim light.

"Hello," It said in its violent, velvet voice, "I believe that the children and I have some unfinished business that must be attended to."

"I think that you 'ad better get out of 'ere, cause they ain't goin' anywhere." Hagrid growled between gritted teeth.

The Monster grinned with a smile like a scythe before licking his lips, "I'm afraid I must _insist."_

I couldn't catch its eyes from behind Hagrid, but the way he seemed at ease - almost mirthful - deeply unsettled me. Cho slowly reached for my hand, and I quietly obliged...

"Well... " Hagrid hadn't quite expected this stranger to size him up, but his brow furrowed when he addressed the Beast again, "... let's take this outside then."

The cloaked creature floated slowly backwards, the snowflakes swirling about him... but never quite touching him – as though they melted into nothing before coming into contact with it. Hagrid stepped outside, drawing the crossbow a little more with each step. Little bits of snow clung to his shaggy hair, and he drew himself to his full, undeniably impressive height.

"Let's get on with it then."

The beast leaped into the air, and Hagrid had it in his sights. With a loud _thwhip_ the bolt flew and clipped the beast's cape. Already Hagrid had drawn another bolt and aimed directly at It's heart. He fired the bolt, and ran forward with a speed I hadn't seen from him before - and just after Hagrid broke into his run, the Creature dove right into the earth where he had been standing. It stayed affixed to the spot, crouched over with it's dark cape against the snow like limp wings. Hagrid turned to face it, and he raised an eyebrow at the sight of the Beast. Cho moved closer to the door, and I followed close behind her... trying to get a better view. She pulled me close, half holding me, half supporting herself. The hand clasped in mine was warm and damp, but I held it ever tighter when I saw the Monster slowly rise from it's crouch. It calmly rose to face Cho and I, and my breath left me at the sight of it.

The bolt protruded sickeningly from the Creature's chest.

It glanced down at the wound, and the violet lips curled into a smile. He turned to the side a bit, and my stomach turned a bit at the sight of the bolt jutting out of the Thing's profile. Hagrid's eyes widened as It reached up and slowly, _achingly_ slowly pulled the bolt from it's chest... and a dark, viscous fluid stained the tip and steamed in the cold air. And just as meticulously, it turned to face us.

"I will be with you in a moment." It whispered.

The Thing suddenly dashed ahead with inhuman speed, it's cloak billowing behind. Hagrid charged at It, and they met halfway. With a thunderous quake they collided, and despite Hagrid's massive size, it bowled him over. With that same great momentum, Hagrid grabbed the Beast's shoulders and threw him over his head - he rose and found that the Monster had already recovered, and he punched the demonic thing with a fist the size of a trash-can lid. Again, the Creature was thrown back with the force of the blow, but by the time it landed, it had already righted itself and was charging him once more. This time it landed a blow if it's own, and Hagrid stumbled to the side. It struck again, this time in his stomach... and Hagrid sank to his knees.

"Filthy beast." It hissed as it reared back to strike again.

But Hagrid looked up, a fierce glint in his eyes. He caught the Monster's hand and stood up, swinging the thing like a ragdoll. He hurled It towards the forest and the Beast hit a tree with resounding _crack_. Snow came down in heaps onto the dark shape at the foot of the tree. It stirred though, and after a moment it pulled itself to it's feet.

"That... was uncalled for."

The Creature took a single, quivering step towards Hagrid... it's breath clouding around it's face. Hagrid braced himself for another powerful blow, but after a glance dropped his stance.

It tilted it's head to the left a bit, "Do you concede?"

"Don't even know what th' word means." Hagrid smirked, stepping backwards.

There was an odd groan that reverberated through the air, and the Beast looked up to see the great tree fall on top of him. It missed Hagrid by a matter of feet, but he didn't look too worried. Instead, a look of grim nervousness gleamed in his eyes as he treaded through the snow and back into the hut. As soon as he got there, rather than retreat to his chair, he began grabbed a large rucksack and began pulling books into it.

"What's going on?" I asked, pulling Cho away from the door.

He had moved on to canisters by the time he answered me, "We need teh git out of 'ere, th' sooner, th' better."

There was something in his voice that worried me... the underlying sense of urgency chilled me. Cho was already at Hagrid's side, asking him what else he needed to pack, but something else pressed me back to the open door. The air prickled my skin, and my eyes stayed fixed the the overturned tree. It had been at least five times Hagrid's height and about as much around; on it's side a good quarter of it was buried beneath the snow. Could it be possible that the thing, that grinning spectre had survived? I glanced at Hagrid once again - he and Cho were forcing the flap back down onto the sack – and wondered about that urgency... that distinct sense of _hopelessness_ in his eyes. Hagrid was always the emotional sort, and for him to clam up like this was more telling than anything he may have accidentally blurted out in the past...

... and it hit me. We **had** to get out of there.

"Let's go... we have to leave." I whispered, and Cho met my gaze. Her eyes were like dark pools, and it hurt to have involved her in whatever this was we managed to get caught up in... whatever _I_ managed to get caught up in. Hagrid locked the bag and heaved it over his shoulders – Was that rustling I heard? - and with his free hand, he tossed me his coat.

"Harry, you and Cho wrap this around yerselves... can't 'ave you two freezing after all this." Cho and I obliged, following him out of the hut, "and mind the dormice if ya' can."

It was difficult to keep up with Hagrid's great stride. Coupled with the fact we were thigh-deep in snow and wearing his heavy overcoat, I doubted we could be moving any more slowly. A creeping sense of dread filled me as we passed the broken tree, and my breath caught in my throat; there was a deep trough in the snow alongside the tree, perfectly parallel to it in fact, and the trunk was cracked and bent along the middle.

It had been pushed aside.

My breath came back to me, but Hagrid's pace quickened... and I knew that he knew.

We trekked deeper into the forest, and the snow became lighter as the sky grew lost in the leafy canopy. But the air still chilled, and steam escaped with every breath. I looked around from behind the protective coat, and didn't really recognize anything. I doubt even Ron and I had ventured this deep when we searched for Aragog. _Ron_...

_Ginny_...

A flash of black in the corner of my eye -

-and Hagrid was thrown sideways away from us, the rucksack and crossbow clattering to the ground. The Beast pounced upon Hagrid, beating on him with both fists like a mad ape. Hagrid flailed his hands around, trying in vain to get a hold on the thing. But it merely shrugged them off and resumed it's attack. Each blow rang with a crack of something, and soft flesh giving way – and Hagrid had stopped fighting...

I dropped the cloak, hardly thinking the entire time, and reached for the fallen crossbow. The mechanism was nearly as big as I was, and perhaps as heavy... but a strength beyond fear came to me... I heaved it across my chest and aimed.

The bolt flew, and the recoil threw me off of my feet, the crossbow clattering to the ground next to me. When I sat up again, the first thing I saw was Cho... her eyes wide with disgust and fear. I saw the Monster... and saw the bolt coming out of either side of it's head. It for all the world looked like a gag, like a hidden loop held the two pieces in place while we stood in shock. But it was no gag, no punchline to this hideous visage. The bolt had entered cleanly from just behind the thing's left ear, and the tip (plus a good hands-length) protruded from it's right temple, dripping that steaming, black tar.

The Thing swooned, stepping off of Hagrid and loping in a near-drunken gait. Once it managed to keep to both it's feet, it grabbed the dripping end of the bolt and proceeded to _yank_ the bolt out, flecks of black staining the ground. Viscous fluid poured out of the wound, covering one hidden eye and dripping down. It craned it's neck, catching me in it's vision. Before I could move it was on me, pinning me to the ground. The Thing's face inches away from mine, I could see my reflection in those dark spectacles.

"I am going to savor you," it intimated, a black tongue darting through it's lips, "I'll start slowly, bits at first... things you don't need, like your eyes, or your tongue. I can make a meal last for _days_."

That cable-thick black tongue escaped it's mouth and licked my neck, the Beast grinning like a foul cheshire cat the whole time, "and when I'm done, I'll let _her_ have you."

Her.

Ginny.

"What are you?" I hissed, fighting my revulsion.

"I am Mujaki."

_Wham!_ Cho swung the butt of the crossbow at Mujaki's head, and the beast tumbled off. I scrambled backwards, and aimed my left hand at the crawling thing... concentrating, _wanting_.

_"Reducto!"_

Mujaki took the blast, and it grimaced as the spell broke it's chest inward with a sound like a muted drum. It inhaled as deeply as it could, and I could _hear_ every bone pop back into place. Finally, he sighed as a grin played across his lips.

"Is that the best you could manage, boy?" It said with that tilt of it's head, as if each word were to drill right into my mind, "I would have thought a strength like yourself would have been capable of greater."

I tried to raise my hand again, but the burning of my palms let me know that my fight was done.

"That taste... the most exquisite light, and I should know. All of this you have, and not the faintest idea to use it."

It was standing right next to me now, and it leaned in close to whisper, "She can use it, the _light._ I showed her how... I could show you, if you let me. I had to beg and plead, and finally fate turned her lovely eye to me. Fate delivered me the girl, and now her darkness is _my_ light."

"Tastes goooood..." it hissed, and that tongue darted out of it's maw.

And without a sound, the Creature disappeared.

Cho blinked a few times, and her eyes darted to and fro. Yet I remained standing... knowing that he was gone, at least for a while. How did it... what did it do to her? Bile burned in my throat, and I clenched my fist... that _thing_ couldn't leave her dead, instead bringing her into this mockery of life. She didn't know what she was doing - not at all. Ginny was just a twisted puppet and Mujaki the master drawing her strings.

And now it wanted me.

I blinked, and ran to Hagrid's side. He was trying to sit himself up, and between Cho and I we got the big man to his feet. His breathing was shallow, and blood dotted his face... but he was able to walk away from our nightmare. At least for a little while.

"It is gone?"

A voice... clear and very much not Hagrid or Cho's. I looked around, hearing the light crunching of ice behind us. A familiar gait, and it's steps echoed around us.

"Yes, it is." A centaur stepped out from behind the tree in front of it, it's sleek palomino body fitting with the icy ground.

"Good. The Darkling troubles us no more." A shaggy, dark-haired centaur I remembered as Bane galloped lightly from behind us, stopping short of Hagrid's crossbow on the ground. More centaurs gathered around us, bows at hand but not drawn. The palomino stepped towards me, it's eyes slightly hidden behind it's white-blonde hair.

"For now, Bane, for now." Firenze said, the ice crunching beneath his hooves, "It is unfortunate, Harry Potter, that we should meet again under such dire circumstances."

Bane stood at his full height and glanced about the herd, "Take them to the camp with the others."

Others? Did they survive? My pace quickened, even while helping to bear Hagrid's considerable weight. If the others were alive... what could that mean? And that monster... too many questions began to pour into my mind. But at the very least, the camp would give us something we dearly needed... a chance to breathe.

I lay upon a bed of soft leaves and chaff, covered in the softest quilt I had felt in a long while. When we arrived, there was a meeting of sorts at the campfire, where Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey sat. Hagrid being tended to by Centaur healers. McGonagall's eyes were closed while she sit thinking, but Madam Pomfrey could only glare into the fire. It pained me to sit here, not knowing when the Mujaki beast would return... if he could strike at any time. I remembered talking faster than I could think, my words simply pouring out of my mouth... it felt good to get it out. Between Cho's testimony and my memories, a continuous time line began to emerge. My visions and exchanges with the monster complementing her views. McGonagall could only nod at our tale, and Madam Pomfrey grew more and more unsettled with each word. And now she sat thinking across from us... the other houses and teachers had evacuated to Hogsmeade, where they were relatively safe – considering that the threat was after me.

We were told to get some rest, so now I lay on that soft bed hidden in a makeshift tent shielded from the elements. My eyes were heavy with sleep, but I couldn't really bring myself to close my eyes... it felt as though today could not have possibly happened. That I woke alone with nothing wrong and now I lay in my own bed, ready to sleep alone. I couldn't sleep, not after that, so instead I watched the clouds drift by through the vent above.

"Harry?" Cho whispered... I could vaguely make out her shadow through the thick material of the tent, "Are you there?"

"Yes."

"Could I come in?" I contemplated this for a moment, but curiosity got the better of me and I let her in. She was still wrapped in Hagrid's coat, and I welcomed the warmth. I sat up, and we huddled together beneath it.

She looked at me, and I could see her eyes... wide and dark, even with the light as dim as it was, "You don't mind me here, do you?"

"No."

There was silence for a few moments, and I refused to let slumber get the better of me. There was still too much to do, to think and-

"I don't want to sleep." I thought aloud, my voice barely audible, "I know when I wake up, this will still have happened... I didn't save anyone."

"It's all my fault... if I had saved her, I know if I had just pushed off a little quicker, reached out to her a little sooner she would still be alive and that horrible monster would have never found it's way here."

"Shh.." she held a finger to my lips, and I silenced. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore, and the first ones fell on her hands.

"I want to forget." I quietly sobbed into her shoulder, "I want to forget."

"You don't forget, Harry," she whispered in my ear, "You never forget. Everything that has ever happened to you rests in your heart and now it's ready to burst. You can't do this alone. I won't let you."

"My parents didn't want me, Harry."

I sat up at this, and she continued, "They couldn't handle my grief last year, over someone they didn't know doing something they could never, ever understand. Rather than learn, they more or less decided to drift away... it's not that they refused me, they just thought it easier to not have a daughter at all. They didn't kick me out, they just forgot. I didn't even get invited home."

"So I'm alone now..." she sighed, her hands trembling, "Except for you."

"I don't know how anyone could ignore you." I said, feeling my face flush with each word, "and you are not alone."

"And neither are you," she whispered, pulling her hair loose of the black ribbon that bound it, "so don't you forget it."

She set the ribbon on the ground next to the bed, and began to unbutton her blouse.

"Cho... what are you doing?" I couldn't help but turn away, and I heard her laugh softly.

"It's okay, Harry, " She said, stopping just beneath the soft swell of her breasts, "I'm going to do something for you, for us. We need to finish something we started."

Her wand began to glow a vibrant blue, and she held the wand above her chest, the tip grazing just below her collarbone.. A brilliant blue spark coursed through her wand and into her chest, and she set the wand beside the ribbon.

"This is the hard part," Cho whispered, and she gently lay me down on the bed. I didn't fight, instead my eyes were transfixed by the light... beneath her skin, her breasts, in her heart itself, the soft blue held my gaze. I felt her crawl atop me, laying down until our eyes met again. Her smile was warm, and she gently kissed me.

Again, she guided my arms around her waist, feeling her weight on top of me. We breathed together, and another sensation took hold of me... the light...

* * *

_We sat at the low table, a magnificent dinner laying before us; steaming fowl and steaks, sweet melon halves and loaves of crusty bread with iced goblets of butterbeer and pumpkin juice ringing the set. Cho sat at the other end of the table, beautiful in her silken, violet blouse her hair held up by two golden ribbons. She smiled, and a sweet laugh escaped her lips. I looked at myself, seeing no wounds, nor signs of battle._

_"How did you do that?" I wondered aloud, a grin spreading across my face, "I mean, how could you have learned such a-"_

_"-enough, Harry Potter," she said coyly, "We have a wonderful dinner and good company. Let's enjoy this small comfort while we can."_

_She came around to my side of the round table and sat on the ground next to me. I gazed into her dark eyes and couldn't hold back my smile._

_"Yes, we should."_


	12. Symmetry

_**Chapter Eleven... Symmetry**_

* * *

_Reality_.

Maybe... there was still a haze in my eyes, despite the fact I hadn't removed my glasses the night before. I could feel Cho's head tucked in the crook beneath my chin, her solid warmth still in my arms. But I couldn't shake that drift... that odd sensation pulling me backwards. I could see myself laying on the bed of chaff and hide, wrapped up in Hagrid's overcoat with her. But I could _walk_ around. I left the tent... not really certain if I used the flap or not, and walked over the the campfire.

Madam Pomfrey appeared sleep-eyed, but otherwise composed and sitting at her spot around the fire. I couldn't tell if it was morning or afternoon due to the black, stirring clouds I could make out above the canopy. The faint rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.

"Here's your tea, Poppy." Professor McGonagall appeared from my right, startling me until I realized she couldn't see me, "with a bit of cheer."

Of course her words were curt, but Madam Pomfrey took the cup anyway, "Thank you, Minerva."

"Any word from the Ministry since I've been away?"

Madam Pomfrey frowned at this, "Not a one, and the owl I sent with the emergency returned so out-of-sorts I thought it had been confunded."

Prof. McGonagall sighed, "I surmised as much... the clouds, the snow. This isn't natural. That creature is keeping us here. I'm glad that Filius and the others managed to escape before the blizzard hit."

"But it doesn't matter if we're cut off from anyone who can help!"

"What about the Centaurs?"

"They will protect Harry – and us by extension – but they will not help us retake the castle or fight the creature. That's as far as their arrangement with Albus extends." Madam Pomfrey seemed a bit more awake now, and she drained the remains of her cup.

"That makes sense... he wouldn't want to endanger the herd."

Endanger.

My stomach sank a little bit, and I didn't want to hear anymore. I wandered away from the fire, scanning for Hagrid. He wasn't anywhere in sight, nor were there any centaurs... but I felt them. Their many eyes surrounded us, and I knew that even if they were not within my vision, they were out there... watching.

Something caught my vision... something black.

My heart stopped. I could see it. _**It**._ The nightmare creature drifted silently back into the mist, and without thinking I bolted after it. Racing past tree after tree, dimly aware that my feet were not touching the ground at all, I chased it. The fog grew thicker the further away from the encampment I got, but I didn't care. I wanted to find this monster.

_Here._

The alien thought pierced my consciousness, and I followed it. A dark mind reaching out, I simply followed the path, knowing that each black thread of power would inevitably lead to the beast. Soon, dark tendrils surrounded me, carving a path to the core. And in the center, the creature stood.

"Hello, boy." Mujaki bowed with a grin like a scythe.

"What do you want?"

The grin faded, and the beast tilted it's head, studying me, "She's coming for you."

Something caught in the back of my throat, and I swallowed hard before speaking again, "You know where we are?"

"No. I can see you because _she_ feels you. You are connected, and that's why she's drawn to you. She is bright, so I watch from the shadow..."

It opened it's mouth, and I saw those teeth – small, sharp and gleaming against it's dark complexion, "... until she finds you."

It came close to me, like before, and I could feel the thing's vile lips brush against my cheek, "You are ripening... soon you and the girl will be ready, fatted with power, and then I'll eat you."

Before I could think about it, my anger boiled up and I lunged at the creature. I gripped it's throat and we fell to the muddy ground. The monster was shocked at being touched, and a vise-grip held my arm and threw me into a tree. I wasn't in pain - no pain - but my limbs refused to move. Mujaki drew itself up, floating several feet in the air – like I was before – and gazed upon me with an expression of mixed curiosity and disgust. With a quick brush of it's hand, I levitated in the air, as though I were in the invisible grip of an enormous hand. Inches away from me, the creature studied me again.

Finally, with a small sigh, it dropped it's hand, "Begone."

And like lightning, I was thrown back through the trees, through the mist, and finally landing on my back before the campfire. There was no pain, but my body buzzed and throbbed. My body... where was it? I got to my feet and stumbled back into the tent, not really aware enough to know whether I used the flap or not. I was still in bed, wrapped in the overcoat, but Cho was awake. She was still beneath the coat with me, but she was wiping what looked like _tears_ from my eyes.

"I hope you don't hate me when this is over," She whispered before gently kissing my forehead and cradling my head against her bare chest. I blinked, and my vision was gone. There was warm weight next to me, and I allowed myself to fall.

My eyes opened slowly at first, and gradually I could feel _myself_ again. My arms tightened around Cho, who though I hadn't seen with my real eyes knew she was there, and I felt her heart beat faster at my touch. The pace quickened, the flighty pulse against my head, and I never wanted to leave, to rise again. I could live blissfully with this heart in perfect sync with mine.

_I hope you don't hate me when this is over._

I didn't hear the words exactly... but I knew them, could reach out and think aloud without my mouth ever moving... _I could never hate you._

Cho froze, her heart pausing for an instant. I could hardly explain to her what was happening... hell, I was figuring it out for myself, but I tried to placate her fear. _Come here..._

_What's happening?_

_I don't know... I can't explain it, but the best I can do is show you._

She came at my thought... and she was close, closer than anyone had ever been to me. She could see everything, unrolling like a bad dream. Quirrell, Cedric, Voldemort, the Basilisk, Hermione, Ron and finally... Ginny. It was as though everything that is me came pouring into her mind... _our mind_.

_Our mind. _For the briefest moment we were one, together in every possible way. After the memories had subsided, the only thing left was myself, standing alone in the darkness with the single thought _This is me... this is the package. Every hurt and pain I've never wanted to pass on belongs to you now. _And she didn't care. She came to me and her thoughts poured into mine and we were one. Her parents... quiet at the dinner table, at every meal. Shopping at Diagon Alley as a first-year with her mother, shopping this year alone, eating lunch with Hermione and Ron at the Leaky Cauldron, every snarling Sirius Black poster, every kiss with Cedric, standing with Ginny on the edge of the world...

_Our mind._

The mockery my life had become without Hermione and Ron, Cedric's eulogy, happy parents showering gifts, leaping from ground to rooftop almost ethereally, _flying._

_The girl... you knew her._

_Now you do too._

_I could have loved her._

_So could I._

_Do you love me?_

_I don't know._

No lies. No facades we could return to after this. When I opened my eyes, I kissed her. And she kissed me back as our hearts beat in sync. I didn't know if I loved her... or if I could love anyone anymore, but we knew each other. We _were_ each other. Two sides... night and day.

_Night and Day._

Something dawned on us.

_Mujaki... dark, demonic Mujaki._

_Ginny... pale as walking death._

_No way..._

_It's the only way._

After Cho buttoned her blouse we were out of the tent. Professor McGonagall frowned disapprovingly, "I don't think the current situation calls for -"

"We need to talk." Cho and I said in unison.


End file.
